Bengaluru: Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy this morning announced a reward of Rs. 10 lakh for anyone who can help the Police arrest the killers of journalist Gauri Lankesh.

The 21-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed under B.K. Singh, Inspector General of Police, has asked the public to share any information they feel would help in solving the murder case. The press note by the Police states that the general public can call the number 09480800202 or send an email to [email protected] with relevant information.

Bengaluru Police have also arrested one person for putting up derogatory posts on Facebook. Mallanagouda Basanagouda Biradar, whose name on Facebook is Malli Arjun, was arrested after he had put up a post stating that “one beggar’s body has fallen…Other beggars will face the same fate.” This post was made close on the heels of Gauri Lankesh’s death.

Now the Bengaluru Police have arrested him for incitement and making provocative statements. On similar lines, the Delhi Police on Sept. 7 registered a case on a complaint by journalist Sagarika Ghose after a Facebook post said she should be assassinated like Gauri.

The Police have sought details of the IP address from which the post was written. It was posted by a user, Vikramaditya Rana, and the details of his profile are being probed. The post read, “Let d shooting of #GauriLankesh serve as example to those anti-nationals who masquerade as journalists & activists.”

“I hope this is not d last…should be episode of serial assassinations of all anti-nationals. Shobha De; Arundati Roy; Sagarika Ghose; Kavitha Krishnan; Shehla Rashid etc at d end of a list that should start with anti-national & treacherous politicians. A hit list be prepared & eliminate all those on d list. At last a ray of hope (sic)…” it said.

BJP hits back at Rahul Gandhi

The politics over the murder continues with the BJP hitting back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for blaming the RSS. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi this morning, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned why the Congress government in Karnataka had failed to provide security to Gauri and hinted that Naxal elements could be responsible for the Hindutva critic’s death.

“Rahul Gandhi publicly alleged that the RSS and right-wing were responsible for Gauri Lankesh’s death. So has the Karnataka government stopped its probe after Rahul’s statement? Does the Karnataka CM agree with Rahul’s statement?” he questioned.

“Naxalites were not happy with Gauri Lankesh, but even that is no excuse for the Karnataka government to not provide adequate security to her. Why is the Congress silent on RSS workers being attacked in its State?” he asked.