Gauri Lankesh murder: CCTV footage reveals attackers were at crime scene 45 mins earlier

The two attackers who shot dead senior journalist Gauri Lankesh on September 5 outside her residence were waiting for her to come home, investigators have found after studying CCTV footage. 

According to an Indian Express report, investigators said the CCTV footage shows the shooter passing in front of her house 45 minutes before Lankesh's arrival. It was earlier believed that the attackers had followed her home from her office in south Bengaluru's Basavanagudi. However, after closing examining the evidence, they now believe that the two attackers were waiting in the area near her home.

Sources familiar with the Special Investigation Team probe said the police are probing if the attackers received information of Lankesh leaving office.

The CCTV footage also showed that the two assailants, who were on a motorbike, parked behind the victim's car before gunning her down. 

Lankesh was shot dead by unidentified men on September 5 outside her Ideal Homes Layout residence in west Bengaluru. She was opening the front door of her house when assailants shot four bullets from a 7.65 mm country-made pistol at her, hitting her in the chest. She was the daughter of writer, translator and journalist P Lankesh and was a vocal critic of Hindutva and the right wing.

An ardent supporter of free speech, Gauri Lankesh was a vocal critic of Hindutva and the right wing. Her writings reflect her opinions against the communal politics and the caste system.

Gauri was born in the year 1962 to the poet-journalist P Lankesh, who had established the weekly Kannada language tabloid Lankesh Patrike. Gauri started her career as a journalist with a The Times of India in Bengaluru. She also worked as a correspondent for the Sunday magazine for nine years.