A month on, no one knows who killed Dabholkar; cops claim probe on right track

Who killed Narendra Dabholkar? Four weeks and a wobbly probe later, no concrete clue to the broad daylight slaying of the anti-superstition activist seems to have emerged even as the police claim that probe into the murder is on the "right track".

Who killed Narendra Dabholkar? Four weeks and a wobbly probe later, no concrete clue to the August 20 broad daylight slaying of the anti-superstition activist seems to have emerged even as the police claim that probe into the murder is on the "right track".

Dabholkar, Maharashtra’s leading anti-superstition activist who had been campaigning for a law that would ban exploitative religious practices, was shot dead by unidentified assailants during his morning walk.

The state government, however, decided to promulgate an ordinance a day after his murder, to enact a long-pending bill to eradicate black magic, blind faith and superstitious beliefs. The law will be the first such in the country.

In the past few weeks, protest marches and dharnas marked the public ire throughout the state as activists and supporters of Dabholkar gave vent to their anger and disappointment over the pace of investigation, which has practically drawn a blank even after a month.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajendera Bhamre, investigating officer of the murder that stirred the conscience of the nation, said his teams were in the process of getting essential clues and probe was on the "right track".

He, however, remained elusive about the motive behind the murder supposedly committed by two motorcycle-borne assailants who apparently shadowed the anti-superstition crusader and shot him dead from close range on a city bridge.

A London lab is processing the blurred CCTV footage to decipher the images of the killer duo supposedly captured by the cameras installed in a building in the vicinity, after police technicians here failed to get anything concrete from their examination of the video clip.

The report from abroad was awaited, police said.