The officials in charge of journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder sent for a forensic analysis of the bullets and cartridges that were found at the crime scene. The report states that the same local made 7.65 mm pistol was used to kill M.M. Kalburgi, a Kannada research scholar in August 2015.

The forensic report suggests this after analyzing the bullets and cartridges from both the murders. It is believed that guns leave a unique mark on the bullets and cartridges when they are fired. The marking is formed when the firing pin strikes the cartridges and the bullets fire through the barrel.

A few skeptics advice against this method of matching for country made weapons.

It gets even more puzzling as earlier investigations showed that Maharashtra rationalist Govind Pansare’s murder on February 16, 2015 in Kolhapur matched the markings with Kalburgi’s murder.

Five bullets from two guns shot Govind Pansare and his wife on that fateful day. His wife survived the shots but Pansare did not. Investigation found that one of the guns used at this murder was also used to kill Kalburgi. The two cases were closely analysed and it was later found that the gun that killed Pansare was the same as the one that killed rationalist Narendra Dabholkar on 20th August 2013 in Pune.

The CID in Karnataka which is probing Kalburgi’s murder has had no headway. It has been coordinating with the CBI that is investigating Dabholkar’s case and the Maharashtra SIT probing the Pansare case.

In January 2016, the Bombay High court issued a statement allowing a coordination meeting between the CBI and the Maharashtra SIT on the Kalburgi case.

The CBI and Maharashtra SIT’s probe into Dabholkar and Pansare murder suggests the radical right wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha as the prime suspect. The group has been known for causing violence and many members have been arrested in connection with planting bombs in Thane and Vashi. Two members of the Sanatan Sanstha group were found guilty and sentenced to 10 years incarceration.

The group is known to have not liked Gauri Lankesh. They called her “an extortionist with links to Naxals.” But the group gave out a public statement that they did not kill her.

At present, authorities are questioning Lankesh’s family members to find out about the people she helped move out of the Naxal movement and into the mainstream.

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