A chargesheet has been filed against Hindu Janajagruti Samiti leader Dr Virendra Tawde in connection with the murder of Communist Party of India politician Govind Pansare. Tawde was also the “key conspirator” in the murder of writer and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar. He was arrested on June 11 for Dabholkar’s murder in 2013.
The party Tawde belongs to is an offshoot of the Sanatan Sanstha, which was allegedly responsible for an explosion in Goa in 2009, and for bombings in Vashi, Thane and Panvel in 2007. Pansare was shot in 2015 in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.
The Special Investigation Team formed for the case has reportedly zeroed in on two members of Sanatan Sanstha as the assailants who shot at Pansare and his wife on February 20, 2015. The men have been reportedly identified by Uma Pansare, who sustained a bullet injury to her head in the attack, reported The Indian Express.
The Maharashtra government had reportedly sent a recommendation to the Centre for a ban on Sanatan Sanstha in 2012. However, the Union government has not yet acted on it. The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that it does not have enough evidence against the group to impose such a restriction on it.
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