Maharashtra Elections 2024: Gauri Lankesh Murder Accused Shrikant Pangarkar Joins Shinde Sena

Shrikant Pangarkar, one of the accused in the murder of activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh has officially joined Eknath Shinde's faction of Shiv Sena ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections.

This development comes a week after two of the murder accused received a grand welcome by pro-Hindu groups after a Bengaluru court granted them bail.

As per PTI, Pangarkar joined Shinde Sena on Friday in the presence of party leader and former state minister Arjun Khotkar.

"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," said Khotkar.

Speaking to PTI, Khotkar said he also wants to contest the assembly poll from Jalna, but added seat sharing discussions in the Mahayuti alliance are underway. The seat is currently held by Congress' Kailash Gorantyal.

As per the official announcement from the Election Commission of India, the Maharashtra assembly polls will be held on November 20 and the results for the same will be declared on November 23.

The term of the current legislative assembly ends on November 26.

Pangarkar's Role In The 2017 Murder of Gauri Lankesh

Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her home in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017. As per reports, Shrikant Pangarkar was the senior associate of the prime suspect Amol Kale.

As per a report by the Times of India, the Special Investigation Team probing Lankesh's murder pointed to Pangarkar's relation with Kale.

As per SIT, Kale revealed that the orders to kill Gauri Lankesh had been issued by a man based in Maharashtra. Further investigation revealed that Pangarkar had been in contact with Kali before and after Lankesh's murder.

Pangarkar was arrested for his involvement in the murder of Gauri Lankesh in August 2018 and was granted bail by the Karnataka High Court on September 4, 2024.