A special court in Pune on Tuesday passed the order to frame the charges against the five accused, all linked to the radical outfit Sanatan Sanstha, in the case of the murder of Dr Narendra Dabholkar. The framing of charges — which will mark the beginning of the trial — has been deferred till September 15.
Dr Dabholkar (67), a rationalist and founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), was shot dead by two assailants while he was on a morning walk on the VR Shinde bridge near Omkareshwar Temple in Pune, on the morning of August 20 in 2013.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which took over the case from Pune City police in 2014 has till now charge-sheeted five accused. The special court of Additional Sessions Judge SR Navandar is currently holding the proceedings of the case. On Tuesday the court said that it is passing the orders to frame charges against all five accused.
The court said that it will be frame charges against four of the accused — Dr Virendrasingh Tawade, Sachin Andure Sharad Kalaskar and Vikram Bhave — for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and under provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Arms Act. The court said that it will charge advocate Sanjeev Punalekar for the destruction of evidence. The framing of charges, when the court will ask each of the accused whether they plead guilty or not guilty, has been deferred till September 15.
In June 2016, the CBI first arrested Sanatan member and ENT surgeon Dr Virendrasinh Tawade. The chargesheet against him was filed in September 2016, and the CBI called him the mastermind of the conspiracy to kill Dr Dabholkar. In August 2018, the CBI arrested two more Sanatan Sanstha members Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar.
The supplementary chargesheet against the two was filed in February 2019 and the two were named by the CBI as the two persons who shot Dr Dabholkar dead. In May 2019, the agency arrested Mumbai-based lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar and his aide Vikram Bhave, both linked to Sanatan Sanstha. The chargesheet against them was filed in November 2019.
The CBI has said that Punalekar played a role in the destruction of evidence in the case and Bhave in conducting the recce and destruction of evidence. While Tawade, Andure and Kalaskar are in judicial custody, Punalekar and Bhave are out on bail.
