Journalist, writer and activist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her residence in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Southwest Bengaluru Rajarajeshwari Nagar, southwest Bengaluru, on Tuesday night.
The coldblooded killing of the 55-year-old activist who took right wing politics head-on in
Karnataka brought back memories of the murders of Kannada writer-thinker MM
Kalburgi in Dharwad in 2015, communist leader Govind Pansare the same year in
Kolhapur, and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune in 2013.
Gauri, returning home from work, was gunned down by three men on a two-wheeler between 7.45pm and 8pm in front of her home on Loop Road, II Cross, Ideal Homes, RR Nagar, police said.
The editor of Kannada tabloid 'Gauri Lankesh Patrike' parked her white Etios car outside the gate of her residence and began walking to the main door when three men opened five rounds of fire. Forensic sources said one.32 pistol was used and three bullets hit her in the chest. She was shot from 10-foot distance, indicating that the shooters were professionals. After she was fired at, she ran to the door and died instantly, police said.
"Usually, she would drive back home
late at night. Today, she returned earlier and we heard gunshots and rushed
out. For a few minutes, we could not understand what had happened. Then, we
realized Gauri had been shot and she was lying in a pool of blood near the door
of her house," a neighbour told police.
Neighbours said three men sped away on an unidentified
two-wheeler after the killing. "I was in Koramangala when I heard the
news. I'm deeply shocked. I have no clue who has done this. The inquiry should
be handed over to the CBI," said Indrajit Lankesh, her filmmaker brother
and one of the earliest to arrive at the spot.
Residents of an apartment complex in front of her house, where Gauri lived alone, alerted police.