An anonymous phone call is what alerted the Rajarajeshwari Nagar police to the murder of journalist Gauri Lakesh on September 5, 2017. This emerged during the deposition of Rajarajeshwari Nagar police inspector Shiva Reddy on Thursday, August 11 at the special Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act (KCOCA) court in Bengaluru.
The inspector said that he received a phone call from a public booth informing him about Gauri’s murder. He reached the spot at 8.40 pm along with a constable, H Shivaswamy. That night, Shiva Reddy also gathered CCTV footage from four nearby apartments and one hospital.
During cross-examination, the defence questioned Shiva Reddy about why the police did not follow up on the anonymous call received after the murder. This line of questioning was immediately overruled by the judge.
Continuing with the deposition, Shiva Reddy detailed the manner in which the police recreated the crime scene. He said that in June 2018, he brought the prime accused, Parashuram Waghmare, to Gauri's house to recreate the crime scene. The police bought a jacket and shoes to look like the ones Waghmare was wearing on the day of the murder. To recreate the crime scene, the police also parked a car similar to Gauri's in front of her house. During this visit, the accused Parashuram admitted to police officials that he murdered Gauri Lankesh at her home.
The lawyers appearing for the accused cross-examined the Public Works Department (PWD) Assistant engineer, V M Kelegeri who was ordered by the police to draw a topographic map of the crime scene. The defence suggested that he did not visit the crime scene to create the map but followed police instructions and created the map while sitting in his office. The court dismissed this line of questioning too.
The forensic expert who was supposed to examine the diaries taken from the prime accused by the police did not appear in court. The defence has yet to investigate the veracity of the phone calls intercepted by the police.
Earlier, a neighbour of Gauri identified the bike used by the accused while fleeing the crime scene. He stated that he came out of his house after hearing gunshots and saw two men speeding away on a motorcycle.
The case is posted for continuation of the trial from September 5 to 9 as one of the accused, Ganesh Miskin, is being treated for varicose veins.