Dabholkar murder case: After 7 years, family unhappy with CBI probe
Union home ministry on August 12 awarded a CBI officer who probed the case.
Seven years have passed since the murder of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar and eight arrests have been made by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over the years, however, Dabholkar’s family members are unhappy with the probe stating that it still hasn’t reached a logical conclusion.
Dabholkar was shot dead by two assailants near Omkareshwar temple in Sadashiv peth on August 20, 2013, when the rationalist was returning home after a morning walk.
Dabholkar’s daughter Mukta and son Hamid in a joint statement on Tuesday said that the CBI has not been able to find the ‘masterminds’ who directed the killing of their father and as a result the threat to the lives of rationalists, activists and journalists remain imminent till date.
“The murder investigation has stopped only till the arrest of eight persons including Virendra Tawade and Amol Kale. The CBI must go ahead and investigate the masterminds of the murder failing which the danger to the lives of rationalist thinkers will not fade away. Seven years after the murder, the investigation remains incomplete,” stated the release issued both by Hamid and Mukta on Tuesday.
The family’s submission comes at a time when the Union home ministry on August 12 awarded the CBI officer, who probed the Dabholkar’s murder case. The Union home ministry awarded a total of 121 officers, including 15 from the CBI, which included assistant superintendent of police (ASP) SR Singh, who not just investigated the case, but also ensured that the weapon used in Dabholkar’s murder was recovered from the Thane creek.
The family members said that it is a painful experience that the case has remained unsolved till date by an agency like the CBI.
According to their statement, every government conveniently used the word ‘progressive’ for their political mileage.
“The political parties and their leadership keeps espousing the ideology of Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar, but the murder investigation of a personality who gave his life for creating a progressive society is yet not over which pains us,” stated Hamid and Mukta.
The CBI arrested ENT surgeon Dr Vinod Tawade, a Sanatan Sanstha member in 2016, alleging that he was the mastermind behind the murder. In the Dabholkar murder case, the CBI has also arrested three others identified as Amol Kale, Amit Digwekar and Rajesh Bangera — who are accused in the murder of Bengaluru-based journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh in September 2017.
Later, the agency arrested Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, in August 2018, as the ones who opened fire at Dabholkar on August 20, 2013. Vikram Bhave and advocate Sanjiv Punalekar were arrested by the CBI in May 2019, on the basis of a statement by Kalaskar.