Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (DC)

Bengaluru, Jun 17: Parashuram Waghmare who was arrested by the SIT sleuths for the murder of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh had failed twice in his attempts to eliminate her before September 5, 2017, the day he shot the journalist.

Waghmare who came to Bengaluru 8 days before Gauri was killed had identified the writer on YouTube. Before committing the crime, he had watched several videos of her speeches on YouTube multiple times, sources said.

After coming to the city with a stranger, Waghmare had tried to eliminate Guari thrice in a week. Twice his murder attempts failed and he got succeeded in his third attempt. After firing shots at Gauri, the stranger who was with Waghmare took the gun back and told him not to contact him in future. The stranger said, "Forget me and you will receive your reward. Do not worry." Waghmare revealed these details to the SIT sleuths during questioning.

"Regretted murdering Gauri"

Waghmare during questioning reportedly said that he regretted eliminating Gauri. "I did not know who Gauri Lankesh was. In July 2017, one person met me in Vijayapura. He told me that he knew that I was a Hindu activist and wanted me to finish an important work."

Waghmare further told SIT sleuths, "That person asked me to watch videos on YouTube and Facebook regarding Gauri Lankesh. I took some more time to agree to finish the work. The second time when I met him, I agreed to murder Gauri. But seeing thousands of people across the country shedding tears for Gauri I regretted eliminating her and feel that I should not have killed her."

SIT sleuths further said that Waghmare had revealed during questioning that he was trained in Belagavi to handle the gun. “The gun was provided by those strangers and they trained me," he told SIT sleuths.

The SIT sleuths have not yet found out three other accused who helped Waghmare to eliminate Gauri. They have questioned Sujith Kumar alias Praveen, Amol Kale alias Bhaisaab, Amit Degwekar alias Pradeep, and Manohar Dundappa Yadave alias Manoj who was arrested earlier people who supplied gun to execute the crime.

To prove the murder charges, the gun and the bike will be the main evidence in the court. The SIT team cannot rely on the statements of the accused and if they take a u-turn in the court, it might hinder the probe. Hence SIT officials are trying to collect the evidence.

The SIT sleuths said that more than 60 people in Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka are operating right-wing outfits who discuss about eliminating their targets secretly.

Meanwhile, Kavitha, sister of Gauri Lankesh met former chief minister Siddaramaiah and thanked him. Speaking to media persons, Kavitha said, "When Siddaramaiah was the chief minister, he vowed to nab the culprits and appointed an efficient officer and police team to probe the case without delay. Now I feel that my sister will get justice and I have met Siddaramaiah and thanked him."

Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily too congratulated the police on successfully nabbing the culprits. “The Siddaramaiah government had received credible information regarding Gauri killers and I congratulate the probe team in cracking the case,” he said.