More suspects identified in Dabholkar, Pansare case, yet to be arrested, say police
The HC told CID and CBI that they have to outsmart the accused, because if such crimes go unpunished, other criminals feel emboldened.
The Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Thursday told the Bombay high court that it had identified more number of accused in the killing of rationalist Govind Pansare, but was unable to arrest any so far.
The HC told CID and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), probing the killings of Pansare and Pune-based rationalist Narendra Dabholkar respectively that they have to outsmart the accused, because if such crimes go unpunished, other criminals feel emboldened.
Appearing for the state CID, advocate Ashok Mundargi said while some “new persons had been identified as accused”, the probing authorities were facing difficulty in tracing them, as some had changed residential addresses and phone numbers.
The CBI also told the HC that several of the accused in the Dabholkar case had illegally obtained new numbers.
The CBI counsel, additional solicitor general Anil Singh, said while the probing agency was trying to sift through phone conversations for a clue on the whereabouts of the accused, it was a mammoth task.
However, a bench of Justices SC Dharamadhikari and Bharati Dangre told the probing agencies that they must not refrain from securing the assistance of experts and accessing latest technology in their investigation due to lack of funds.
Singh also said the CBI director was kept in the loop of the progress in both cases.
The submissions came while the bench was hearing a plea filed by the family members of Dabholkar and Pansare seeking that the court monitor the probe into both the cases.