Gauri Lankesh murder: Hotelier taken into custody

Belagavi: The SIT probing the killing of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh today arrested a 37-year old hotelier from Belagavi on charges of harbouring two key accused in the case, police said.

Bharat Kurne, a resident of Sambhaji Galli in Belagavi, runs a hotel and was picked up as he was allegedly in contact with Amol Kale, the suspected mastermind behind the killing.

Bharat had ‘harboured’ the mastermind of the crime Amol Kaleand sharp shooter Parashuram Waghmare, SIT said.

“So far, there is no evidence against Bharat to establish his involvement in the murder. But he was picked up from Belagavi on Wednesday after his links with Kale and Waghmare were revealed during the course of the probe. He is being brought to the SIT office located on the premises of the CID office in Bengaluru,” an official said.