AMN /
The CBI has arrested Dr. Virendra Tawade, a member of the Sanatan Sanstha offshoot, Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, for his alleged role in the murder of noted Pune-based rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar in 2013.
The arrest is seen as a major breakthrough in the case. CBI sources confirmed that the agency arrested Tawade yesterday from Panvel around 8.30 pm. He will be produced before the sessions court in Pune today.
Tawade’s arrest was the first by the central agency since it took over the probe in May 2014 on the directions of the Bombay High Court based on a PIL.
The arrest comes nine days after the CBI conducted searches at the residence of Tawade, who works as a medical officer for the Sanstha, and questioned him at the outfit’s ashram in Panvel. CBI sources said they had been questioning Tawade over the last few days to probe his role in the murder. Tawade was also in contact through emails with Sarang Akolkar, another activist of the Sanstha, who is absconding after Goa blasts in 2009, the sources said.
Dr. Dabholkar was shot dead by two unidentified men while he was on a morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013.