Gauri Lankesh shot dead outside her house

A strident anti-Sangh activist and journalist, editor of “Lankesh Patrika” , Gauri Lankesh was shot dead by 3-4 unidentified men on a bike, just outside her residence in Bangalore on Tuesday, September 5th. News reports coming in after the shocking murder say that she collapsed at the entrance of her house after being shot dead at close to 8 p.m. this evening.

Gauri Lankesh was highly critical of the Hindutva politics and the Sangh which persecuted her with two defamation cases, including that of senior BJP MP, Prahlad Joshi whose alleged criminal activities were exposed in her weekly paper.

The Bengaluru Police Commissioner has confirmed the incident; top police officers have rushed to the spot.”We learnt that the victim was shot dead from close range when she was standing at her house in Rajarajeswari Nagar (in the suburbs) around 8.00 p.m.,” a senior police officer said.

Comparisons are being made with the brutal killings of scholar M M Kalburgi and rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare as all were active opponents to the Hindutva brand of politics.

Gauri Lankesh’s brother has asked for a CBI probe into the murder. She had been repeatedly saying, “Modi Bhakts and the Hindutva Brigade” are “keen to somehow shut me up,” adding that they would like to see her behind bars.