Bengaluru : A court here has remanded Rishikesh Devdikar, an accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case, to 15 days police custody, official sources said on Monday. He was recently arrested in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand.

The Special Investigation Team that is investigating the case produced Devdikar before the court and based on the request of the SIT, the judge has granted 15 days police custody till January 27, the sources said. The SIT, set up to probe the killing that triggered national outrage, had arrested Devdikar from Katras near Dhanbad on Thursday evening.

Eluding arrest for the past one-and-half years, he had been working at a petrol pump in the town under an alias for the last eight months, Dhanbad police had said. He is the 18th accused to be arrested in connection with the killing of Lankesh on September 5, 2017 in front of her house in Bengaluru.

Known for her Left-leanings and anti-establishment voice, she was shot dead by unidentified assailants with the incident drawing national outrage and protests.