SIT summons Sri Ram Sene district head for questioning

The Special Investigation Team probing the killing of journalistactivist Gauri Lankesh has summoned Rakesh Math the Vijayapura district president of fringe rightwing outfit Sri Ram Sene for questioning a senior police official said yesterdayThe SIT decided to question Math since the suspected shooter of Lankesh Parashuram Waghmare was an active member of the Hindutva organisation linked to moral policing in parts of Karnataka the official said The official from the SIT said they wanted to find out whether Math was involved in Lankeshs assassination and whether he brainwashed Waghmare to participate in the plotMath and Waghmare were allegedly involved in hoisting a Pakistani flag outside the tahsildar office in their hometown Sindagi of Vijayapura district in Karnataka in January 2012 The SIT believes Math has a strong support base in coastal regions including Mangaluru and parts of north Karnataka We have summoned Rakesh Math He has not come yet the official said Sri Ram Sene founder and chief Pramod Muthalik has distanced himself and his organisation from Waghmare and other rationalistsLankesh was shot dead at the entrance of her Bengaluru residence on September 5 last yearThere is no connection between Sri Ram Sene and Waghmare He is neither our member nor our worker This I say very clearly said Muthalik The Sene chief said when the Pakistani flag hoisting issue had come to light it was said that Waghmare was a member of Sri Ram Sene However he said he has proved that Waghmare was not a member of Sri Ram Sene but of RSSI had shared his pictures sporting RSS uniform I had said at that time that he is an RSS worker and not of Sri Ram Sene Muthalik said Conceding that Math is the district head of Sene Muthalik said he has been summoned for inquiry because all of them are from Sindagi town and were involved in the Pakistani flag hoisting incidentSince both Waghmare and Math were involved in the Pakistani flag case and were from the same town the police might have summoned the latter for interrogation he saidRakesh Math is our district president However the organisation has its own constitution according to which it functions If somebody does something privately in his personal capacity it cannot be held responsible he said Math said he came to Bengaluru following a notice to appear for the inquiry He also said he has been Parashuram Waghmares friend and his arrest was quite shockingHe said he came to know about Waghmares arrest after the police picked him up Math was confident that his friend would come out clean He denied his involvement in the killing and said he has only been doing organisational workCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever