Was the weapon used to kill Gauri Lankesh, the same as the one used in the MM Kalburgi murder? The SIT probing the killing of the journalist has said that so far, their investigation has proved no such thing.

“Let us trace the weapon first, then we can see if the same one was used in both murders,” said MN Anuchet, Chief Investigating Officer in the Gauri Lankesh murder probe.

On September 5, journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh was murdered right outside her residence by an unknown assailant, who pumped 4 bullets into her at point blank range. The murder was reminiscent of the killing of rationalist MM Kalburgi, who, too, was killed in his own home on August 30, 2015.

Following Gauri’s killing, several media reports had claimed that the weapon used to murder Gauri was the same one used in the Kalburgi killing. However, Chief Investigating Officer in the Gauri Lankesh murder probe, MN Anuchet, said on Saturday that investigation so far has not revealed any connection between the two murders.

“There has been no ballistics report in this regard. So far there has been no connection established between the two murders. The probe is on. Currently we have released the sketches of the suspects and asked people to come forward and inform us if they have seen these persons,” MN Anuchet said.

He said that the police came up with the sketches with the help of artificial intelligence software, eyewitness descriptions and sifting through 75 terabytes of footage from 600 CCTV cameras.

“It is undeniable that 7.65 mm country made pistol was used to kill both Gauri Lankesh and MM Kalburgi. Almost all illegal pistols which come into the state are 7.65 mm country made pistols with a .32 calibre. Just because similar weapons were used, does not mean the same one was used to kill both people. Sometimes, in order to generate leads in investigations, forensic experts may suggest to investigating officers to probe a certain angle. That does not make the suggestion true. There has been no proof linking the murders yet,” he said.