Dr. Narendra Dabholkar murder case – Know what happened in five years

NP NEWS NETWORK

Pune:

It was 7.30 am on 20th August 2013, the founder of Maharashtra Andhshradha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS) Dr Narendra Dabholkar, as usual, was on a morning walk on Vitthal Ramji Shinde bridge between Omkareshwar Temple and Balgamdharv auditorium. Two men on a motorcycle approached him and fired four rounds from close range from a pistol.

Few policemen were on nakabandi duty near the temple but they did not hear any gunshot. A passerby informed them and the cops rushed to check the man lying in a pool of blood. Initially,y they didn’t recognise him and thinking that he was already, the body remained there for about 1 hour. Later they identified him as Dabholkar.
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An FIR for murder was registered with Deccan Gymkhana police station, Pune city police, against unidentified persons.

The state government had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakhs, while Pune police had announced Rs 1 lakh for information about assailants of Dabholkar. The case was handed over to Pune police Crime Branch.

To investigate the murder, Pune Police had set up 23 investigating teams. The attackers were near the crime scene for about 45 minutes. Police had seized CCTV footages but they were unclear. A man staying in a building opposite the temple had seen the assailants and he had helped cops prepare their sketches but that also didn’t help.

Police investigated all those against whom Dabholkar had made complaints. Police also took the help of retired officers to crack the case. The criminals lodged in various jails in Maharashtra were also questioned but in vain.

The then Home Minister RR Patil visited Pune and took review of the investigation. In this case, the political environment had also heated up in the state. BJP leader Gopinath Munde had accused the State Government and the Home Ministry of failing to maintain law and order in the state. People had sent bangles to R R Patil from Pune.
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Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had told the police to also find out those who helped Dabholkar’s killers.

Pune police had also consulted some astrologers. The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) also started a parallel investigation of the murder case.

On 28th August 2013, Dabholkar’s children Dr Hamid and Mukta Dabholkar met the Commissioner of Police Gulabrao Pol and said that they will not be satisfied till the attacker was arrested.

Since beginning police suspected involvement of right wing Hindu organisation Sanatan Sanstha
in Dabholkar’s murder case. One youth from the organisation was detained in Goa by Faraskhana police, but he was released within a few hours.

The CCTV footage collected by Pune police were unclear and they were sent to a forensic lab in London.

Meanwhile, on August 30, Dabholkar’s office received a threat letter and the same stirred the discussions on social media. A Dabholkar’s photo with a cross mark went viral on social media.

On September 1, it was clear that the police had seen the killers in seven CCTV footage, but it was very unclear. The police had collected 120 CCTV footages of before and after the incident of murder, seven out of them had footages of the killers. They were seen near the bridge since 6.20 am. Police also took help of other state police departments but could not make any breakthrough.

On September 5, CM Chavan made a statement in Kolhapur that if needed the case will be transferred the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Meanwhile, Thane police had arrested arms dealer Manish Nagori and Vikas Khandelwal in an arms case. Pune police suspected that the duo might have provided the weapon to Dabholakr’s killers. The duo was arrested in connection with the murder case of a security guard at Pune University. But actually, they wanted to question them about Dabholkar’s case. However, the court released them on bail after a few days.

Senior journalist Ashish Khetan had done sting operation to prove that Police Commissioner Gulabrao Pol had done black magic with the help of retired policeman Manish Thakur for planchet.

Then journalist and social worker Ketan Tirodkar filed a petition in the Bombay High Court following which the case was transferred to CBI.

The agency arrested Sanatan Sanstha’s Dr Virendra Tawde in 2016 and also filed a charge sheet against him. CBI claimed that he was part of a conspiracy to kill Dabholkar.

This year while investigating the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, Karnataka Police arrested members of right-wing Hindu organisations. They passed on information about some suspects near Mumbai who were planning terror attacks.
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Maharashtra ATS arrested some persons and recovered explosives in huge quantity. During their interrogation, one of them claimed to have shot dead Dabholkar with the help of his accomplice. ATS passed on the information to CBI which arrested Sachin Prakash Andure, a resident of Aurangabad, on Saturday evening. He is said to be the man who shot at Dabholkar.