In the ongoing Gauri Lankesh murder trial, a key prosecution witness retracted his earlier statements implicating several accused individuals and their involvement in arms and explosives training camps organised by a right-wing extremist network.
The 37-year-old witness from Karnataka’s Belagavi region had, in 2018, provided a detailed account to a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC, acknowledging his participation in multiple arms training camps and naming individuals associated with the camps. However, during a recent court hearing, the witness denied all previous statements, prompting the state’s special public prosecutor to declare him hostile, reported The Indian Express.
This witness had earlier identified some of the accused in the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh as participants in the camps and claimed to have been part of a test identification parade. He has now stated in court that those identifications were made under police pressure. When cross-examined, the witness denied being influenced or pressured by the accused—many of whom were granted bail last year.
According to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing Lankesh’s murder, the camps were organised by a Hindutva fringe syndicate linked to the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, a Sanatan Sanstha affiliate. The group allegedly trained its members in handling weapons and explosives and recruited like-minded individuals for ideological targeting. The SIT filed a comprehensive chargesheet in November 2018 detailing these camps and the broader conspiracy.
The now-hostile witness had previously named Amol Kale, a former HJS convenor and alleged key conspirator, as one of the individuals who invited him to the camps and encouraged him to recruit others. He had also mentioned specific camps held in Maharashtra’s Jalna and near Dharmasthala in Karnataka during 2015, and described the presence of four unnamed external trainers known only by aliases such as "Bade Mahatmaji" and "Bhai Sab."
SIT's chargesheet stated, “The members of this crime syndicate were continuously provided with various kinds of training in the making and usage of weapons and explosives at many places. Local members of the syndicate took up the responsibility of organising these training camps at the different locations.”
Accused individuals said to have attended these camps include Amit Degwekar, Virendra Tawade, Sharad Kalaskar, and several others. Kalaskar was previously convicted in the 2013 murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar and provided training camp details to the CBI.
This is the third time a prosecution witness has turned hostile out of 183 presented in court so far in the Gauri Lankesh case, which began trial in July 2022. Over 400 witnesses are listed in total. Two other witnesses, one from Udupi and another linked to the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, had similarly denied attending camps or being connected to the accused.
Gauri Lankesh, a vocal critic of right-wing extremism, was gunned down outside her Bengaluru residence on September 5, 2017. Parashuram Waghmore, a former Sri Rama Sena activist, was identified by the SIT as the shooter. Forensic analysis has tied the same weapon used in Lankesh's murder to the killings of Kannada scholar M. M. Kalburgi in 2015, rationalist Govind Pansare in 2015, and Narendra Dabholkar in 2013—revealing a chilling pattern across the murders of four progressive thinkers.
The 9,235-page SIT chargesheet names 17 individuals associated with Hindutva outfits, accusing them of murder and conspiracy under the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA). The SIT notes that “The members of this organisation targeted persons whom they identified to be inimical to their belief and ideology. The members strictly followed the guidelines and principles mentioned in ‘Kshatra Dharma Sadhana’, a book published by Sanatan Sanstha.”