Karnataka's senior journalist Gauri Lankesh has been shot dead by unidentified men at the entrance of her home at Bengaluru at around 8 PM on Tuesday.

According to Begaluru police, the 55 year old journalist just got out of her car and was entering her house when she was shot at close range and died on the spot.

Gauri Lankesh has been a constant and vociferous critic of Hindutva. She has been editing her own magazine in Kannada and she was writing columns in both English and Kannada languages in other magazines and newspapers as well. She is known to be a progressive and bold journalist who always stood her ground. She was also facing a defamation case filed by a BJP MP of the state.

It is worth noting that Bengaluru based Rational thinker, M.M.Kalburgi was shot dead in a similar fashion in the year 2015.

The brutal murder of the journalist has sent shock waves among journalists and free thinkers across the country.