After Several Arrests, Questions Still Surround the Dabholkar Murder Investigation
Despite court supervision, investigative agencies have come up with contradictory details over the course of the investigation.
File photo of Narendra Dabholkar.
Mumbai: Despite
the arrest of one more person last week in connection with the August
20, 2013 killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, questions remain
about the manner in which the case is being handled by the Central
Bureau of Investigation.
On
August 18, the CBI arrested Sachin Andhure of Aurangabad and identified
him as one of Dabholkar’s shooters. The arrest came soon after the
Maharastra police’s anti-terrorism squad (ATS) arrested three men, including
Vaibhav Raut, and seized a vast quantity of explosives from them in
Nallasopara outside Mumbai on August 10. One of the three shared
information about Andure’s participation in Dabholkar’s murder,
following which the CBI, which is the agency investigating the case,
made the arrest.
The
CBI has also claimed that Andure was working closely with Dr Virendra
Tawde, who is already in custody, to plan the murder. According to the
agency, Tawde, an ENT specialist and a member of the Sanathan Sanstha,
is the ‘kingpin’ behind the shooting of the 68-year-old rationalist
while he was out for his morning walk. Tawde was arrested in 2016.
However, despite the arrests, many questions remain about the crime and the investigation.
The
CBI had earlier said that Vinay Pawar and Sarang Akolkar, both still
absconding, were the shooters – but now Andure has been named.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has publicly said that
the ‘real masterminds of the killing and three prominent persons’ are
being protected. He has also questioned the timing of the arrests, which
coincide with the fifth anniversary of the murder.
The CBI chargesheet in Dabholkar murder case mentions at point number 36:
“The investigation has established through oral and documentary evidence that Dr Virendrasinh Tawde who harbored enmity / hatred with Dr Dabholkar owing to the ideological differences between Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (Dr Dabholkar’s organization) and Sanatan Santha, criminally conspired with Vinay Pawar and Sarang Akolkar and others to murder Dr Dabholkar and in pursuance of the criminal conspiracy, Vinay Pawar and Sarang Akolkar shot dead Dr Dabholkar on 20th August 2013 at about 7.25am at Omkakreshswar Bridge, Pune..”
Six
eyewitnesses had identified sketches and pictures of Akolkar and Pawar.
Now, the CBI will have to build up a new case against Andure. The
investigating agency will have to get eyewitnesses for Andure, while
filing a supplementary or a fresh a chargesheet which will have to be in
accordance with the earlier chargesheet. The question is, will the CBI
discard the first chargesheet?
In
March 2017, the CBI had announced a Rs 5 lakh award for leads on
Akolkar and Pawar, as Dabholkar’s shooters. The agency has yet not
withdrawn that award.
On
August 19, the CBI lawyer made a surprising claim in a Pune courtroom,
saying that the shooters’ names were never mentioned in the chargesheet
and just the resemblance of the sketches with pictures of Akolkar and
Pawar was noted.
This
contradicts the chargesheet, which clearly mentions Pawar and Akolkar’s
names repeatedly as the shooters/killers/assailants of Dabholkar..
Nandkumar Nair, head of branch, CBI Mumbai, and investigating officer
additional superintendent of police S.R. Singh have signed the
chargesheet.
The
Bombay high court, which is supervising the Dabholkar murder case
investigation, has often expressed its disappointment at the lack of
progress. Last month, the high court pulled up CBI
joint director and state additional secretary, home in the courtroom.
Given this background, it remains to be seen how the CBI will present
its new claims.
Initially,
the Pune police was investigating the Dabholkar case. It had filed a
case in 2014 against arms dealers Manish Nagori and Vikas Khandelwal for
their alleged involvement. The police claimed that the bullets found in
Dabholkar’s body had been fired from the pistol/weapon seized from
Nagori and his accomplices. The weapon was seized from Vikas on the day
Dabholkar was killed. Nagori and Khandelwal have submitted an
application demanding the closure of this case in a Pune court as the
CBI has identified Pawar and Akolkar as shooters in the September 2016
chargesheet. But the case against Nagori and Khandelwal has not yet
officially been closed.
The
Pune police had cited a report of the Kalina forensic lab and claimed
that the two bullets were fired from the same pistol seized from
Khandelwal. In the chargesheet too it was said that two bullets were
fired on Dabholkar from same pistol. But one of the six eyewitnesses
(whose name cannot be disclosed) from Pune, according to the CBI
chargesheet, has said that four bullets were fired on Dabholkar.
The
Pune police and the special teams formed by the Congress-Nationalist
Congress Party government could not effectively probe the case.
Petitioner Ketan Tirodkar had filed a plea demanding that the Dabholkar
murder case be transferred to the CBI.
In
May 2014, the Bombay high court handed over the investigation to the
CBI. But from May 2014 to September 2015, the state government did not
send seven officers to assist the CBI as per the high court’s orders.
The BJP-Shiv Sena government came to power in October 2014. In September
2015, the officers were finally sent by the Maharashtra government. But
crucial time had lapsed by then.
On
February 16, 2015, Communist leader Govind Pansare was attacked in
Kolhapur and succumbed to his injuries on February 20, 2015. Professor
M.M. Kalburgi was killed in Karnataka in August 2015. The ballistic
reports of the Bengaluru Forensic Lab indicated that two country-made
pistols were used for the murder of Pansare. Of these, one was used to
kill Kalburgi and another was used to kill Dabholkar. But according to
the Pune police’s claim, the pistol that was used to kill Dabholkar had
already been seized from Khandelwal in 2013. These contradictions have
led to confusion.
The
CBI had informed the high court that it will send the forensic evidence
to Scotland Yard for further investigation. But this never happened
because the required diplomatic authorisation could not be obtained.
After this revelation, the high court allowed the CBI to get a new
report from a laboratory in Gujarat. That forensic report’s details are
not yet accessible.
The
Dabholkar and Pansare cases have been clubbed together and the court is
supervising the investigation in both cases. So far, 26 hearings have
taken place and the next hearing is scheduled for September 6. Kalburgi’s wife Umadevi has approached the Supreme Court for a speedy investigation.
Although
there is probable cause for a link between the killings, the
investigating agencies are different. The high court has repeatedly
directed that there should be smooth coordination between all agencies. A
Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing the Pansare murder case and
the CBI is investigating the Dabholkar case.
Tawde’s
wife, Dr Nidhi, had given a statement to the SIT in the Pansare case
that she and her husband were administered psychotropic drugs by Sanatan
Santha members, following which the SIT raided Sanatan Santha’s Panvel
Ashram in 2016. But this significant element is missing from Nidhi’s
statement given to the CBI much earlier.
The
CBI and SIT have recorded the statement of a witness under Section 164
of the Code of Criminal Procedure who reportedly said that Tawde and
Akolkar had met him a few months before the Dabholkar killing to get
arms and ammunition. According to a copy of his statement given to the
CBI and SIT before the magistrate (and which is in the possession of
this reporter), he says he repeatedly informed the Maharashtra police
and ATS officials about this immediately after Dabholkar’s murder in
August 2013. Tawde, however, was arrested only in June 2016.
The
other agency involved in this situation is the National Investigation
Agency. In 2009, two Sanatan Santha members died when bombs they were
carrying on a scooter went off. Six members of the Sanatan Santha were acquitted in this case.
The NIA has filed an appeal in the Goa Margao bomb blast case and the
case is pending. Five Sanatan Santha members are on the run since the
blast. One of the common names in the Dabholkar case and Goa blast
absconders is Sarang Akolkar. Dabhokar’s family has many times
complained that the NIA has not made any efforts to nab the absconders.
Hindu
Vidhidnya Parishad advocate Sanjeev Punalekar has repeatedly said in
press conferences that the absconders are in touch with him. Sanatan
Santha member Prashant Juvekar had given a statement to the ATS in 2010
that Punalekar had harboured all the absconding accused of the Goa blast
in Mumbai.
The
NIA has given an affidavit in the Bombay high court that this case has
no relation with the Dabholkar and Pansare murders. But if the
identified accused Sarang Akolkar is the same one wanted by the NIA,
then why can’t there be greater coordination to catch the absconders?
This was a question raised by advocate Abhay Nevagi, who is representing
the Dabholkar and Pansare families in the high court.
The
Karnataka police say they have cracked the murder of journalist Gauri
Lankesh, which took place in September 2017, and collected evidence.
Members of the Sanatan Santha said to be involved in the killing were
arrested from Maharashtra by the Karnataka police. But in the Dabholkar
case, the weapon, motorcycle and CCTV Footage are all yet to be found,
and major delays continue.
Alka Dhupkar is the Editor of Symple Times, a newspaper to be launched soon by the Sakal Media Group.
