New Delhi: Eight years after Maharashtra-based rationalist and social activist Narendra Dabholkar was murdered in broad daylight, a Pune special court on September 7 will pass orders on framing charges against five members linked to the far-right organisation Sanatan Sanstha.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the probe from Pune police in 2014, has urged special judge S.R. Nawandar to charge five accused persons in the case with offences of murder, criminal conspiracy and committing terror acts under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
However, during the course of the hearing, the CBI probe had run into contention when the defence counsel highlighted the investigating agency’s conflicting claims about the alleged assailants in three separate chargesheets.
Also read: Dabholkar’s Shooter Says Right-Wing Group Gave Him Crash Course in Ideology, Making Bombs
Dabholkar had been receiving death threats before he was shot down during his morning walk by two men on August 20, 2013. The CBI arrested five people – ENT surgeon Dr Virendrasinh Tawade, the two alleged assassins Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, Mumbai-based lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar and his aide Vikram Bhave – all of whom were allegedly associated with Sanatan Sanstha. Punalekar and Bhave are currently out on bail, while the other three are in prison.
LiveLaw reported that the CBI counsel Prakash Suryavanshi urged the court to try the accused persons under UAPA on the basis of statements given by five witnesses, a businessman from Kolhapur who allegedly provided the murder weapon, a country-made pistol, and Dabholkar’s family members. Suryavanshi also cited a sketch in Sanatan Sanstha’s mouthpiece ‘Sanatan Prabhat’ showing Dabhokar being slain.
On the other hand, the defence counsel Virendra Ichalkaranjikar, while opposing the prosecution’s plea, pointed out that the CBI had initially named Sanatan Sanstha members Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar as assailants in one of its chargesheets but later arrested Andure and Kalaskar for the same offence in 2018. He said that the CBI has now curiously presented Akolkar and Pawar as eyewitnesses. He also argued against invocation of UAPA, citing that CBI had attempted to establish that Dabholkar was a victim of Tawade’s “hate”, and terror acts do not apply in the case.
The next hearing will be held on September 7.