The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti claimed today that Amol Kale, arrested on Thursday for his alleged involvement in the killing of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, left the organisation in 2008 because of "personal reasons".
Kale (40) along with Manohar Edve (30), Sujith Kumar alias Praveen (37) and Amit Degwekar alias Pradeep, were arrested by Karnataka Police's Special Investigation Team.
"As far as Kale is concerned, he was associated with HJS in Pune till 2008 but had said he would not be able to continue with the organisation due to personal reasons," Ramesh Shinde, HJS national spokesperson, told PTI.
"So for the last 10 years, he had stopped taking part in organisational activities. He is not in touch with the organisation," Shinde added.
Ganesh Shinde, deputy commissioner of police, Zone-III, Pune, said: "(Kale) was first arrested in an attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and Arms Act case on May 21 by Bengaluru police."
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