Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Sep 5: With reference to the case pertaining to the murder of veteran journalist, Gauri Lankesh, which has gained nation-wide attention, the special investigation team (SIT) has succeeded in proving that the person who fired at and killed Gauri was Parashuram Waghmare. It is felt that with this, the team is on the verge of finalizing its investigation.

The report of the podiatric gait analysis test conducted at the forensic science laboratory at Gujarat has concluded that main accused, Parashuram Waghmare, was the one who fired the bullet.

Parashuram Waghmare and Gauri Lankesh

The laboratory has proved this point on the basis of six-second footage, by using forensic gait analysis technique. By using this technology, the scene was recreated and matched with CCTV footage. SIT has received a report from the said forensic science laboratory which has confirmed that although he was wearing a helmet and seated on the motor bike at the time of committing the crime, the person involved with Gauri's killing was Waghmare. It is said that this technology was used in India for the first time.

Forensic gait analysis involves use of a duplicate who is of the same height as that of the person found in CCTV footage. With the help of this duplicate, analysis was conducted. As per the early estimate, the height of the accused was put at 5'2". With shoes and helmet, his total height could be 5'3" to 5'4". Later, on the basis of hints collected during the arrest and interrogation of various accused like Sujith and Amol Kale, Parashuram was arrested. Parashuram was taken to the site of the crime and the scene was recreated. The CCTV footage at Gauri's home and also that of the re-created scene were sent to the Gujarat forensic science laboratory. The laboratory has since submitted report, confirming that Waghmare was the culprit.

Before the SIT could lay its hands on the accused in the case, it had prepared sketches of the accused which included that of Waghmare. It is said that during the SIT questioning, Waghmare confessed that when he ventured to kill Gauri, the only thing which kept reverberating in his mind that killing of Gauri would tantamount to saving the religion. "When leaders used to narrate about Gauri Lankesh, my blood used to boil as she appeared like a hater of religion. Therefore, I believed that her killing would save the religion. I went home with a sense of pride of having served the religion to a small extent after eliminating her," he reportedly said.

High court warns advocates for accused

In the meanwhile, accused in the case have approached the high court seeking to hold departmental inquiry against four magistrates who they say have committed mistakes. They also have sought payment of compensation of one lac rupees from these magistrates, and registration of contempt of court petitions against them. They have requested the high court to summon the records pertaining to the case from the subordinate courts and scrutinize them.

The bench of the high court presided over by Justice B V Nagarathna, which took up the petition on Tuesday February 4, expressed severe resentment at the accused for naming magistrates as accused. The accused had said that these magistrates had shown negligence towards their requests to provide an opportunity to appoint advocates on their behalf after having been arrested by the police. The accused have named fifth additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) court magistrate, Somashekar, third ACMM court magistrate, V Prakash, first ACMM court magistrate, Jagadish, and fourth ACMM court magistrate, Mala, in their complaints.

The accused have said that the police have been inflicting mental and physical torture on them and that they have been warned by the police that if they complain about this in the presence of the judges, they will face a bleak future. They said that as a result they could not hire lawyers, and the four magistrates named by them had curtailed their constitutional rights.

The bench which took the accused to task for naming the magistrates in the petition instructed them to drop the names of the magistrates.