Gauri Lankesh shot dead: CM Siddaramaiah calls it ‘assassination on democracy’, journalists demand immediate probe

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday condemned the death of senior journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh and said it “is an assassination on democracy”.

“Absolutely shocked to learn about the murder of renowned journalist Gauri Lankesh. I have no words to condemn this heinous crime,” Siddaramaiah tweeted.
“In fact, this is an assassination on democracy. In her passing, Karnataka has lost a strong progressive voice, and I have lost a friend,” he added.

In fact, this is an assassination on democracy. In her passing, Karnataka has lost a strong progressive voice, and I have lost a friend.

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) September 5, 2017

Meanwhile, Bengaluru deputy commissioner of police MN Anucheth confirmed that Lankesh was killed around 8-8:15 pm at her residence in Bengaluru’s Rajarajeshwari Naga.
Anucheth said that the number of assailants is not very clear, but three people are suspected to be involved in this.
He said that Lankesh succumbed to multiple bullet wounds on her body.

Lankesh was the editor of the Gauri Lankesh Patrike, a magazine described as an ‘anti-establishment’ publication.

Last year in November she was convicted of defamation and was sentenced to six months in jail, after she ran a piece in 2008 that Prahlad Joshi, a BJP …read more