The threat-letter writer, who harassed several prominent writers of the State for over a year, was finally arrested this September. It has now emerged that the accused, Shivaji Rao Jadhav, 41, from Davangere, was befriended by Sujith Kumar, who allegedly worked as a recruiter for the gang that allegedly killed M.M. Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh.
According to the investigating agencies, Sujith Kumar, hailing from Shikaripur, Shivamogga district, known by his aliases Praveen and Manjunath, was known to be identifying youths - mostly those in Hindutva groups and highly motivated and capable of committing crimes - and grooming them.
He allegedly “brainwashed” them and recruited them into the gang, with most of those leading it linked to Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha and its sister-organisation Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, which allegedly killed four writers and activists in Maharashtra and Karnataka between 2013 and 2017.
