Shrikant Pangarkar, an accused in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh in 2017, has joined the Shiv Sena in Jalna, Maharashtra.
In the presence of party leader and former state minister Arjun Khotkar, Pangarkar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, on Friday.
“Pangarkar is a former Shiv Sainik and has returned to the party. He has been nominated as the chief of the Jalna assembly poll campaign,” Khotkar told media reporters.
Khotkar pointed out that seat-sharing talks within the Mahayuti, the government’s coalition made up of the Shiv Sena, BJP, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, were still in progress. However, he still expressed his desire to run for the assembly election from Jalna.
Gauri Lankesh was shot dead on September 5, 2017, just outside her Bengaluru residence.
Pangarkar is the senior associate of key suspect Amol Kale, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the journalist-activist’s murder.
The SIT stated that Kale disclosed the orders to kill Gauri Lankesh were given by men based in Maharashtra. Investigations also revealed that Pangarkar was in contact with Amol Kale both before and after Lankesh’s murder.
Pangarkar, who served as an undivided Shiv Sena municipal councillor for Jalna from 2001 to 2006, was taken into custody in August 2018 and was released on bail on September 4 by the Karnataka High Court.
In 2011, after the Shiv Sena refused to provide Pangarkar a ticket, he joined the right-wing Hindu Janjagruti Samiti.
In August, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Pangarkar and four co-accused over an arms haul case from 2018 and their alleged plot to attack Pune’s Sunburn event. The court cited a prima facie lack of evidence to support the conspiracy accusation.
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Explosives Act, and the Explosive Substances Act are among the several provisions under which the accused have been charged.
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