On September 8, a website noted for publishing fake news put up an article stating that a “Naxal leader named Vikram Gowda” had killed Gauri Lankesh.
Sirimane Nagaraj and Noor Sridhar, former naxal leaders who were brought to the mainstream with Gauri Lankesh’s assistance, held a press meet on Monday, claiming that Vikram Gowda is innocent.
“There is no possibility of Naxal involvement in Gauri’s death. Vikram Gowda is an Adivasi youth. He is innocent and would never even think of killing Gauri Lankesh. There is news that Gauri was killed by Naxals. But that is not true. Even today, Naxals have great respect for Gauri Lankesh. There are some groups which are trying to make Vikram Gowda the scapegoat,” Noor Sridhar said.
Placing the blame of Gauri’s death on the Sangh Parivar, Noor Sridhar said that the probe must begin from the RSS offices.
“We are 99% sure that the Sangh Parivaar has a hand in the murder of Gauri Lankesh. I can say with confidence that the Naxals did not kill her. Let the SIT probe the Naxals. I can say with confidence that naxals did not do it. If the RSS is found guilty, then strict action must be taken against them as well,” Sridhar added.
“When the Kannada Sahitya Sammelana happened in Shivamogga, Gauri Lankesh was barred from participating in the event by the Sangh Parivar. Even today, the RSS is celebrating Gauri’s death. The SIT must also probe those who are rejoicing about the brutal murder of a journalist. The probe must begin at the RSS offices,” Sirimane Nagaraj said.
Stating that the Naxals always left behind an identifier upon carrying out an attack, Noor Sridhar said that it was impossible that its members were involved in the murder.
“Naxals are a political organisation. Not a mafia. Whenever attacks have been carried out by naxals, they leave behind a poster or any item which identifies that it was a naxal attack. This was not so in the case of Gauri lankesh. The naxals have attacked bureaucrats but never journalists. Since the time Gauri and a group of journalists helped us come into the mainstream, we have been extremely grateful to her. We would never harm her,” Noor Sridhar said.
The SIT, which is probing Gauri’s murder, is still gathering clues to identify the suspect(s). Just three days after the murder, Postcard.news published an article which falsely claimed that naxalite leader Vikram Gowda, has been identified as the prime suspect in case.
This article was widely shared on social media as well. “The Special Investigation Team (SIT) had probed all the angles and has listed the suspects in the case. The top suspect in this list is the naxal leader Vikram Gowda. The suspect even grows strong against Vikram after the Andhra Pradesh Police arrived in Bangalore to probe the case. These police are probing Gauri’s home and office to further strengthen their suspect. News also emerged that the Chhattisgarh police is also seeking information on this case,” the article reads.
However, officers investigating the journalist’s murder have denied that teams from AP and Chhattisgarh were assisting in the probe and said that no prime suspect had been identified in the case.