Gauri Lankesh Murder Accused Joins Shinde Led Shiv Sena (image-twitter/iamharmeetK)

Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly election, Shrikant Pangarkar, accused in the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, currently out on bail, has joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

Shrikant was arrested in August 2018 in the Lankesh case and was granted bail by the Karnataka High Court last month. He was also accused in the 2018 Nalasopara arms haul case. He was granted bail by the Karnataka High Court last month.
Pangarkar was the municipal councilor of the undivided Shiv Sena in Jalna between 2001 and 2006. He left the party in 2011 and joined the Hindu Janajagruti Samithi.

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“Pangarkar is a former Shiv Sainik and has returned to the party. He has been given responsibility of the Jalna Vidhan Sabha poll campaign… He has been working for the party. He has been released by the court and has come out of jail after completing the judicial proceedings,” said former state minister Arjun Khotkar, in whose presence Pangarkar joined the Shiv Sena.

In the Gauri Lankesh murder case, he was accused of arranging firearms and attending a training camp. Renowned journalist Lakesh was shot dead at her residence in Bengaluru late on September 5, 2017.

Khotkar had also said that he wanted to contest the assembly poll from Jalna but added that sharing discussions in the Mahayuti were still underway. This seat is held by Congress’ Kailash Gorantyal.

As per the Indian Express report, when they contacted the Shinde Sena’s spokesperson and MLA, Sanjay Shirsat, he said that he was not aware that Pangarkar was joining the party.

Pangarkar was also an accused in the 2018 Nalasopara arms haul case where it was alleged that a conspiracy was hatched to disrupt the Sunburn music festival held in December 2017 as the accused thought that it was against Hindu culture. And hence, for this purpose, he had procured pistols, airguns, and petrol bombs.

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Gauri Lankesh was the editor of the weekly Lankesh Patrike, a publication known for its ‘anti-establishment’. It has been under attack for her views against the communal politics of the Sangh Parivar in Karnataka.

Earlier, this month, two key accused in the case were released on bail and was felicitated by members of Hindutva groups in the Vijayapura region of Karnataka.