Accused Naveen Kumar agrees for narco test in Gauri lankesh Murder case

Another development in the murder case of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh has come into light.

The first accused arrested, KT Naveen Kumar (37) told the sessions court on Wednesday that he is ready for a narco test.

Kumar was in custody since February and was asked by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to undertake a narco test in March.

The third Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court had given the go-ahead for the test after the written consent of Kumar on March 12.

But he refused to undergo the test when he was taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Ahmedabad,

The City Civil and Sessions Court heard the bail petition of alleged gunrunner Kumar Saturday. He made an oral submission through his counsel that he was ready to undergo narcoanalysis and other tests proposed by the Special Investigation Team probing the case.

The bail petition matter came up before the court on Thursday afternoon when prosecutor for the SIT sought more time.

He argued that bail should not be granted to Kumar and sought time to submit the Forensic Science Laboratory report as part of the evidence before the court.

He also argued that granting bail to the accused would hamper the SIT investigation as they are gathering more evidence.

The first charge sheet of SIT filed on May 30 mentioned the role played by Kumar alias Hotte Manja and Praveen alias Suchit Kumar.

The court admitted the plea and posted the hearing date for Saturday.

He has been charged under Sections 118 (concealing design to commit the offence), 114 (criminal abetment) 120B (criminal conspiracy), 35 (criminal intent) of the Indian Penal Code in the preliminary charge sheet of 650-odd pages.

(Also read: Prakash Raj on Gauri Lankesh killers planning to kill him: ‘My voice will grow stronger’ )

Image source – The last minute