The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday filed its first chargesheet in the murder of writer and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, naming Sanatan Sanstha member Virendra Singh Tawade as the main conspirator, reported ANI. The chargesheet, which was filed at a Special CBI Court in Pune, also named as co-accused two other members of the Hindutva group – Vinay Pawar and Sarang Akolkar. The two allegedly shot Dabholkar near his Pune home on August 20, 2013.
In the 40-page chargesheet, the investigating agency has analysed hard disks it recovered from the Sanathan Sanstha office in Panvel, Maharashtra. CBI officials said the data revealed that the outfit had a list of anti-Hindu activists that they planned to "eliminate", The Indian Express reported. The CBI added that the right-wing group decided to make a "personality-specific" attack after its plans to carry out blasts in Vashi, Thane and Goa failed.
Tawade was arrested on June 11, 2016, after investigating officers came across emails between him and a senior Sanatan Sanstha member indicating that they planned to kill Dabholkar. Pawar and Akolkar were also identified in June as the masked gunmen who carried out the murder.
Dabholkar had been crusading for anti-superstition legislation in Maharashtra for years, and had received several death threats for his work. His killing had caused a massive uproar in the state. The case was handed over to the CBI in 2014, after the Mumbai Police failed to make any breakthroughs.
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