Senior journalist Gauri Lankesh shot dead at her Bengaluru residence

Last year she was convicted of defamation of two state BJP leaders but she got bail

Senior journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh has been shot dead at her residence in Bengaluru's Rajarajeshwari Naga on Tuesday.

Reportedly, she was shot by three unidentified gunmen.

Lankesh was the editor of the Gauri Lankesh Patrike, a magazine described as an 'anti-establishment' publication.

"We learnt that the victim was shot dead from close range when she was standing at her house in Rajarajeswari Nagar around 8.00 p.m.," a senior police official told IANS.

Last year in November she was convicted of defamation and was sentenced to six months in jail, after she ran a piece in 2008 that Prahlad Joshi, a BJP MP from Dharwad, and Umesh Dushi, also of the BJP, found objectionable.

However, the court also granted her bail and allowed her to appeal to a higher court.