Pansare murder: Charge sheet filed against accused Gaikwad

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police filed a 392-page charge sheet against Sanatan Sanstha member Sameer Gaikwad, who has been charged with murdering senior communist leader Govind Pansare in February this year. The Kolhapur court has accepted the charge sheet.

Police filed charge sheet against Sanatan Sanstha member Sameer Gaikwad charged with murdering senior communist leader Govind Pansare in February.(HT File Photo)

The police filed it before Gaikwad’s judicial custody ends on Wednesday. The police are expected to ask for an extension of his custody.

The charge sheet includes mobile phone records, a list of books recovered from Gaikwad’s house in Sangli and his conversation with fellow Sanstha member Jyoti Kamble. Call data records revealed Gaikwad spoke to Kamble about Pansare’s murder several times. Kamble was earlier interrogated by the police.

The charge sheet also includes forensic reports from the laboratory that examined the bullets recovered from Pansare’s body. The police also claimed Gaikwad was closely associated with Rudra Patil, who is wanted in connection with the Margaon bomb blast. Patil remains untraceable.

Gaikwad was arrested in September this year from his Sangli residence. He has been a Sanstha activist for almost 17 years.