2009 Goa blast suspects might have killed Dabholkar: CBI sources

Two key suspects in the 2009 Margao blast case might have executed the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, CBI sources said on Tuesday after interrogating Sanatan Sanstha activist Virendra Tawade.

Two key suspects in the 2009 Margao blast case might have executed the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, CBI sources said on Monday after interrogating Sanatan Sanstha activist Virendra Tawade.

Rationalist Narendra Dabholkar who was trying to get an anti-superstition and black magic bill passed was shot dead in Pune in 2013. (HT File Photo)

Dabholkar, a staunch anti-superstition crusader, was killed by two unidentified motorbike-borne people on August 20, 2013 in Pune.

CBI sources told Hindustan Times that Tawade had planned the murder, while it was executed by Sarang Akolkar and Rudra Patil. Both Akolkar and Patil are on the run.

“He (Tawade) appears to be the mastermind as he has played an important role in the planning of the murder,” said a CBI source. The source said: “There is a strong possibility that the Goa (Margao) blast suspects are behind executing it.”

The agency is also probing if same people were behind communist party leader and rationalist Govind Pansare’s murder.

Tawade, an ENT specialist, was arrested by the CBI on Friday from his Panvel residence around three years after Dabholkar was shot dead.

On October 16, 2009, two Sanatan Sanstha activists were killed in Margao when they were allegedly transporting a bomb.

A special court in Margao acquitted six of the 11 people associated with the Sanstha, citing lack of evidence, while others, including Akolkar and Patil, are still at large.

The CBI official said the emails they exchanged among Tawade, Akolkar and Patil showed they were “closely associated”. Hindustan Times was the first to report email exchanges between Tawade and Akolkar.

The CBI officials said Tawade was in touch with Akolkar over phone too. On June 1, the CBI had raided houses of Tawade and Akolkar. The central probe agency recovered documents, mobiles and other material.

The emails exchanged between Tawade and Akolkar, scrutinised by the CBI, suggest that they, along with others, wanted to set up an “army of 15,000 armed men” to establish “Hindu Rashtra”. According to CBI officials, Akolkar hailed Tawade as his mentor.

Sanatan Sanstha has denied involvement of Tawade in the murder, saying his arrest was a conspiracy to malign the image of the group.