Bengaluru: Senior Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead by unidentified assailants at her residence here today, police said.

Karnataka police chief R K Dutta said Lankesh was shot dead by unidentified assailants at the entrance of her residence in Raj Rajeshwari Nagar.

She took three bullets and died instantaneously.

Lankesh, said to be in her 50s, edited a Kannada tabloid Lankesh Patrike besides owning some other publications, and was known for her forthright views against hardline Hindutva politics.

Quoting police, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the journalist was shot dead by unidentified assailants soon after she had alighted from her car. "She was returning from Gandhinagar after attending some official work," he added. The chief minister said three police teams have been constituted to probe the killing. Instructions have been issued to crack the case and bring the culprits to book at the earliest, he said. Siddaramaiah also said he has asked police to get in touch with their Maharashtra counterparts probing the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.

Parallels were being drawn between the gunning down of Lankesh and rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and M M Kalburgi, allegedly by fringe Hindu groups. Dabholkar was shot dead in August 2013, while Kalburgi was gunned down in August 2015.

Police have cordoned off the area around Lankeshs house. Senior police officials, including Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) M N Anucheth, rushed to the spot to supervise investigation.