According to Home Minister K.J. George, Megha Pansare, daughter of CPI leader Govind Pansare who was killed in a similar attack in Maharashtra, had appealed to the government against handing over the case to the CBI. She had pointed out that the inquiry into the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar — who was killed in Maharashtra — had made no progress though it was handed over to the CBI.

Kalburgi was shot dead at his residence at Kalyan Nagar in Dharwad on August 30. The case is being probed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the government had said it would seek a CBI probe. The assassination was executed in a “professional style” and the CID needed more time to reach a definite conclusion, said Mr. George.

“However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will take a final call on seeking a CBI probe,” he told presspersons on Tuesday.

Mr. George asserted that the government had given a free hand to the CID and it was not right to reveal all the leads during the investigation.

On the demand by writer Chandrashekar Patil to reopen the murder case of journalist Linganna Satyampet in 2012, the Home Minister said he would take a decision after inquiring about the progress of the case.

‘No pressure’