CBI arrests Sanatan activist in Dabholkar murder case
The CBI arrested right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagriti Samiti Dr Virendra Tawade in connection with the Narendra Dabholkar murder case, almost three years after he was shot dead in Pune.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested rightwing group Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagriti Samiti activist Dr Virendra Tawade in connection with Narendra Dabholkar murder case, almost three years after the anti-superstition crusader was shot dead in Pune.
Tawade was arrested from his residence at Panvel at around 8.30pm, a CBI official said on request for anonymity. “Tawade is one of the conspirator in the Dabholkar murder,” the official said.
Dhabolkar’s son Hamid confirmed about the arrest saying the investigating agency informed him about the development in the night. “The CBI officials have informed me about Tawade’s arrest,” said Hamid.
Tawade will be produced in the local court at Pune on Saturday.
Read: CBI seeks Scotland Yard probe in killings of three rationalists
The arrest has come eight days after CBI searched the residences of Tawade and another Sanatan Sanstha activist Sarang Akolkar. During the arrest, CBI recovered certain documents and mobile numbers, emails, among other materials which were later scrutinized.
Sources said, CBI noticed that Tawade and Akolkar were in touch with each other through email. Akolkar, 35, has been absconding ever since his name cropped up in the Madgaon blasts in 2009. There were 11 suspects in the blasts, of which six were acquitted by a Goa court, while others, including Akolkar, remain absconding.
Dr Tawade resides in the vicinity of Sanatan ashram at Panvel and treats activists of rightwing group, sources said.
Read: Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi shot with same gun?
Dabholkar, a rationalist and anti-superstition activist, was shot dead on August 20, 2013, while returning home from his morning walk by two unidentified persons on a bike in Pune.
Reacting to arrest, Hamid Dhabolkar welcomed the move but said had it happened earlier perhaps Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi’s life could have been saved.
