Telangana BJP MLA Raja Singh has felicitated the advocates representing the men accused in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar at an event organised by a Hindutva group called Hindu Janajagruti Samiti. The group is considered to be an offshoot of the Sanatan Sanstha, an extremist Hindutva group. 

Raja Singh who had faced 101 cases in Hyderabad, of which 18 were communal in nature, felicitated four advocates at the Vaishvik Hindu Rashtra Mahotsav held in Goa between June 24 and 30. 

Read: 101 cases, just one conviction: How BJP MLA Raja Singh keeps getting away

He felicitated advocates P Krishnamurthy, Umashankar Megundi, Divya Megundi and Avinash Masuti, who are representing the main accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case. 

Gauri was murdered outside her house in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017. The main accused in the case was Amol Kale, a former leader of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti who according to the police, allegedly hatched the plot to murder Gauri. The Special Investigation Team that was investigating Gauri’s murder found that 18 people were

The Karnataka state spokesperson of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti posted images of the felicitation on social media. 

Read: Why Gauri Lankesh was assassinated: The story of an indoctrinated 

Raja Singh also felicitated advocates Prakash Salsingkar, Ghanshyam Upadhyaya, Mrunal Wyavahare Sakhare and Smita Desai who represented the accused in the Narendra Dabholkar murder. Dabholkar was a rationalist who founded the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti. He was shot dead on August 13, 2013 near the Omkareshwar Temple in Pune. A special court in Pune convicted two people — Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar — of murdering Dabholkar in May 2024. Kalaskar is also one of the accused in Gauri’s murder. 

Around 800 delegates from across the country attended the event, according to the Samiti’s website.