Gauri Lankesh murdered: Mayawati alleges larger conspiracy behind death, demands NIA probe

Lucknow: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Thursday claimed that the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh appeared to be the part of a larger conspiracy and demanded a NIA probe into it. [caption id=“attachment_4013883” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Police and relatives outside the residence of journalist Gauri Lankesh on Tuesday. PTI[/caption] In a statement issued in Lucknow on Thursday, BSP chief Mayawati said that along with Lankesh’s murder, the Centre should get the killings of writers such as Narendra Dabolkar, Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). “Journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder in Bengaluru, prima facie seems to be a larger conspiracy. The Centre must order an NIA probe into the murders of authors and writers such as Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi. Such murders happen after an interval. The Centre should display seriousness instead of just condemning them,” said Mayawati. Terming Lankesh’s murder as condemnable, Mayawati said the way independent authors, journalists and intellectuals were being killed one after the other, an NIA probe is necessary, as prima facie all the cases point towards a larger conspiracy. “The country is noticing a fatal pattern behind these killings. As was witnessed in cases of cow protection, love-jihad, anti-Romeo and Ghar Waapsi campaigns, the state and the central governments did not display the seriousness that was required in national interest. This is a matter of serious concern,” she said.