India: Senior journalist Gauri Lankesh shot dead

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI

Noted Indian journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead on Tuesday evening in Bengaluru in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

According to media reports, the 55-year-old was shot at her residence from close range by unidentified men.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner T. Suneel Kumar confirmed the incident to local media.

Lankesh was editor of the weekly Lankesh Patrika, a Kannada tabloid magazine known for writing against India’s right wing.

Her friends describe her as a fearless and outspoken journalist.

She had faced threats from right-wing Hindu forces.

After being convicted of defamation for an article claiming that members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were involved in corruption, she had been out on bail pending appeal.