Lankesh murder: SIT summons Sri Ram Sene leader

Bengaluru: The SIT probing the killing of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh has summoned a functionary of fringe right-wing outfit Sri Ram Sene for questioning even as her family on Saturday expressed satisfaction over the progress in the sensational case. A senior police official said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) decided to question Rakesh Math, the Vijayapura district president of Sri Ram Sene, since the suspected shooter of Lankesh, Parashuram Waghmare, was an active member of the Hindutva outfit, linked to moral policing in parts of Karnataka. The official, from the SIT, said that they wanted to find out whether Math was involved in Lankesh's killing and whether he "brainwashed" Waghmare, arrested earlier this week, to participate in the plot. Math and Waghmare were allegedly involved in hoisting a Pakistani flag outside the tahsildar office in their hometown Sindagi of Vijayapura district in Karnataka in January 2012 in an alleged bid to create communal tension. The SIT believes Math has a strong support base in coastal regions, including Mangaluru, and parts of north Karnataka.