Narendra Dabholkar murder: CBI nabs Sanatan Sanstha lawyer

Picture for representation (IANS)

Mumbai:  In a significant development, the CBI has arrested right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha’s lawyer Sanjiv Punalekar and his aide Vikram Bhave in connection with the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, official sources said here on Saturday.

They will be taken to Pune and produced before a designated court which is monitoring the CBI probe in the sensational murder case.

Dabholkar, 67, who was chief of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), was gunned down near his residence while on a morning walk on August 20, 2013.

Besides Punalekar and Bhave, the CBI has so far arrested a total of five persons in connection with the murder.

Five years after Dabholkar’s killing in August, 2018, the CBI made the first breakthrough arrest of the alleged shooters – Sachin Andure from Aurangabad and Sharad Kalaskar from Palghar.

Following their interrogation, the name of Virendrasingh Tawde, arrested earlier in another case, came to light as the conspirator in the Dabholkar murder.

When contacted by IANS, the family members of Dabholkar declined to comment on the latest arrests.

Published on: May 25, 2019 at 19:37 IST

IANS