Bengaluru: In the Gauri Lankesh murder case, 18 persons have been charged by a Special Court in Bengaluru.
In the presence of their counsel before the court, the charges were read over and explained to the accused persons in Marathi and Kannada, since the presiding officer speaks Marathi.
“Charge for the alleged offences framed. The same was read through and explained to the accused persons in their native languages of Marathi and Kannada, as the Presiding Officer is also a Marathi speaker, and in the presence of their counsel before the court. After being made aware of the situation, the accused pleaded not guilty and demanded to be tried. Since the certificate of charge is recorded through V. C., the accused’s signature on the certificate of charge is not required,” stated Principal City Civil and Sessions Judge Anil Bheemsen Katti in the order.
The accused have been identified as Amol Kale, Amit Baddi, Parashuram Waghmare, Ganesh Miskin, Amit Degwekar, Bharat Kurane, Rajesh D. Bangera, Sudhanva Gondalekar, Mohan Nayak N., Suresh H. L., Sharad B. Kalaskar, Vasudev B. Suryavanshi, Sujith Kumar, Manohar Yedave, Srikanth J. Pangarkar, K. T. Naveen Kumar and Rushikesh Devadekar. They have been charged under different sections of the Indian Penal Code, Arms Act and Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act.
The special court ordered that those accused held in prisons in Tumakuru, Ballari, Mysuru, and Shivamogga be transferred to the Central Prison in Bengaluru for the purpose of framing charges on September 22.
It was on September 5, 2017, journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot and killed in front of her home in Rajarajeshwari.
