TIA NEWS
CBI has filed chargesheeted against Virendrasing Tawde, an ENT surgeon who is a member of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), which is an offshoot of radical Hindutva outfit Sanatan Sanstha as a key accused in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in 2013.
The said accused was arrested on 10.06.2016 and is presently in judicial custody at Yerawada Central Jail, Pune.
The chargesheet, filed late Tuesday, also names two other Sanstha supporters — Sarang Akolkar, a wanted accused in the Goa blast case of 2009, and Vinay Pawar — as those who carried out the attack on Dabholkar on August 20, 2013.
The conspiracy to murder Dabholkar was hatched because of ideological differences between the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), founded by Dabholkar, and HJS, says the chargesheet.
CBI sources said, the chargesheet was filed against Tawde under the Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy and murder.
Dabholkar was murdered by two motorcycle-borne assailants while he was on a morning walk on Onkareshwar Bridge in Pune. The case was initially probed by Pune police’s crime branch before being transferred to the CBI in May 2014.
In the first week of June this year, CBI teams conducted searches at the houses of Tawde in Panvel and Akolkar in Pune — Tawde was arrested on June 10. CBI has said that some documents, cell numbers and email addresses were recovered during the searches.
CBI sources said the agency also scrutinised email exchanges between Tawde, Akolkar and some members of the Sanstha, in which the plan to murder Dabholkar was allegedly discussed.
Sources said that the CBI also analysed data from hard drives recovered from the searches in Panvel, which allegedly shows that the conspirators had a list of names whose work they considered “anti religion” and whom they planned to murder.
Another important aspect of the chargesheet is the statement of a witness from Kolhapur, an owner of a metal workshop, who has allegedly told the CBI that Tawde and Akolkar had met him a couple of months before the murder of Dabholkar and had asked for firearms.
“Initial investigation revealed that the said doctor had allegedly conspired the murder of Dr Dabholkar with two other accused persons including an absconder,” stated a CBI press release.
Dabholkar’s son, Dr Hameed, described the filing of the chargesheet as “a positive development”. “But it is important that the two wanted accused are arrested as soon as possible, as they still are a threat to society and to supporters of free thought, in particular. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the Goa blast case, should also work with the CBI,” he said.
Tawde’s lawyer, Sanjiv Punalekar, accused the CBI of having “framed Tawde”. “Also, there is no evidence regarding the involvement of Akolkar or Pawar in the case. The CBI’s investigation is based on the statement of a tainted person from Kolhapur,” he said.
Pawar is a native of Miraj in Sangli district, who completed his studies in Mumbai. A graduate, he became a full-time activist of the Sanstha, working for its ashram in Goa. He went missing in 2010 after being named by Prashant Juvekar, who was arrested in the Goa bomb blast case of 2009.
Akolkar is among the 12 persons charged by NIA for the Goa blast. A graduate of electronics engineering from a private college in Pune, Akolkar has gone missing since the blast, with a Red Corner Notice (RCN) being issued against him and other suspects by Interpol.
According to the chargesheet, the CBI probe revealed that Tawde communicated in “code” language through emails with other suspects, in which they also discussed Dabholkar. CBI allegedly found code words like “chocolate” for “bullets” and “books” for “guns” in Tawde’s communication.
CBI says that in the on-going investigation, searches were conducted on 01.06.2016 at Pune and Panvel, both in Maharashtra in the premises of two private persons, including a doctor and another private person who was absconding in Goa Blast case of 2009. Certain documents & mobile numbers & E-mails etc. recovered during searches were scrutinised.
“The motive for the murder of Dr. Narendra Dhabholkar was allegedly the long enmity/hatred that existed between two private organisations. Dr. Narendra Dhabholkar was the founder of a Satara (Maharashtra) based organisation and the accused(Doctor) was part of another other private organisation based at Kolhapur (Maharashtra). It was alleged that the accused, an ENT doctor gave up his medical profession in 2001 and began to actively propagate the activities of the said Kolhapur based private organisation through his associates. The activities of persons alleged to be against the interests of the Kohlapur organisation got targeted and Dr.Narendra Dhabholkar was an important target” Informed CBI.
Initial investigation revealed that the said doctor had allegedly conspired to the murder of Dr.Narendra Dhabholkar with two other accused persons including an absconder.
Further investigation is continuing to unearth the entire conspiracy and to reveal the identity of all known/unknown accused.
These findings are based on the investigation done by CBI and evidence collected by it.