Accused in journalist Lankesh case were conspirators in Dabholkar murder too: CBI

Pune: Three accused in journalist Gauri Lankesh murder case were conspirators in the Narendra Dabholkar murder too, and one of them imparted weapon-training to Dabholkar's shooters, the CBI told a court here Saturday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Sachin Andure, one of the alleged shooters of Dabholkar, last month.

The agency on Saturday produced Rajesh Bangera and Amit Digvekar, both accused in the Lankesh murder case, along with Andure in the Pune court. Andure's CBI remand ended on Saturday.

The court sent Digvekar and Bangera in CBI custody till September 10, while Andure was sent in judicial custody.

Claiming that there was a link between the accused in the two cases, the CBI on Friday took the custody of Bangera and Digvekar from the Karnataka Special Investigation Team which is probing the Lankesh murder.

"Bangera, a government employee and PA to a Congress MLC in Karnataka, gave weapon-training to both the shooters, Andure and (Sharad) Kalaskar, who killed Dr Dabholkar," CBI lawyer Vijaykumar Dhakane told the court here.