New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday transferred the murder case of professor M.M. Kalburgi to the same Special Investigation Team (SIT) that is probing the Gauri Lankesh murder case. The Karnataka’s Crime Investigation Department was earlier heading the Kalburgi investigation.The apex court took the decision while hearing a plea filed by Kalburgi’s wife Uma Devi seeking an SIT investigation into the killing. Devi has also claimed that shooters from the same organisation were involved in the murders.In December 2018, the Supreme Court asked the CBI to investigate if there is a “common thread” between the murders of Lankesh, Kalburgi, activist Narendra Dabholkar and communist leader Govind Pansare. If a thread could be established, the court wanted the same investigative agency to head all cases.Kalburgi, a former Hampi University vice-chancellor, was killed on August 30, 2015. Lankesh was killed almost exactly two years later, on September 5, 2017.Also Read: Same Group Behind Killings of Dabholkar, Kalburgi, Lankesh: OfficialAfter the apex court criticised the Karnataka government for “doing nothing” and failing to conclude Kalburgi’s murder case in November 2018, the CID reconstituted its probe team. According to the Indian Express, several officers from the SIT investigating the Gauri Lankesh murder case were part of the reconstituted team.DSP T. Rangappa, a key investigator in the Lankesh probe, was appointed as the new investigating officer in the Kalburgi case.Kalburgi’s wife Uma Devi claimed that shooters from the same organisation were involved in the murders. The SIT has already determined that the same gun – a countrymade 7.65 mm pistol – was used to kill both Kalburgi and Lankesh. The same make was also used in the murders of Dabholkar and Pansare.Another common link between the murders is the involvement of members associated with the Sanatan Sanstha or the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti. The police have already established that the same group of people were involved in the murders of Kalburgi, Dabholkar and Lankesh. An official who was part of the investigative team said:During the investigation, it came to light that a gang of like-minded people was involved in the killings of Dabholkar, Lankesh and Kalburgi. Almost all members of this gang have links with the Sanatan Sanstha and its offshoot Hindu Janjagruti Samiti.
