The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken Amol Kale, the prime accused in journalist Gauri Lankesh murder case, in its custody in connection with its probe in rationalist Narendra Dabholkar's murder case, an official said Thursday. The CBI suspects that Kale is also the mastermind of Dabholkar's killing, he said. Kale, who was arrested in May this year by the Karnataka Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with Lankesh's killing will be produced before a court in Maharashtra's Pune district Thursday, he said.

Dabholkar was killed in Pune on August 20, 2013, while Lankesh was shot dead outside her residence at Bengaluru in Karnataka on September 5, 2017. The official claimed that during Kale's interrogation, his alleged role in Dabholkar's killing also came to light.