India: Charge sheet filed against Hindu Janajagruti Samiti member Dr. Virendra Tawde in Pansare’s murder case

The Hindu

Charge sheet filed against Tawde in Pansare’s murder

Sonam Saigal
Mumbai: November 30, 2016 00:00 IST

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) filed its charge sheet against Dr. Virendra Tawde in the Govind Pansare murder case at a Kolhapur court on Tuesday.

Talking to The Hindu , special public prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar, appearing in the case, said evidence to show the conspiracy hatched by him has been collected and there is enough material to establish that Dr. Tawde had done the recce to commit the crime and it is taken on record. “There is enough material to show that several meetings were held between Sameer Gaikwad, Dr. Tawde and two other absconding accused Rudra Patil and Sarang Akolkar in the case,” he added.

Mr. Nimbalkar said, all the evidence highlight the conspiracy and his motive. “We have a number of statements of witnesses under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure where confessions are recorded by a magistrate. It’s a voluminous charge sheet,” he added.

When asked on the next step in the case, Mr. Nimbalkar said, charges will be framed against him. On December 4, Sameer Gaikwad’s criminal petition is slated to be heard at the Bombay High Court which will now be clubbed with that of Dr. Tawde.

Requesting anonymity a senior police official told The Hindu that 50 to 55 witnesses have deposed in the case. Govind Pansare's wife Uma has identified the two gunmen from sketches which has helped in filing of the charge sheet, the officer said.

On September 3, Dr. Tawde, a qualified ENT surgeon and a member of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti — a splinter of the Sanatan Sanstha — was picked up by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from Navi mumbai in June this year.

He has been chargesheeted by the CBI in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in August 2013.

Pansare was a Communist Party of India leader and an author. He was shot dead in Kolhapur in February 2015 while he was on his morning walk.

Talking to The Hindu , his daughter Megha said, “We expect justice, and have full faith in the judiciary. The chargesheet has been filed after thorough investigation. We hope for the best.”