MANS seeks justice in Dabholkar murder case

August 20 marks the eighth anniversary of the murder of the rationalist

With August 20 marking the eighth anniversary of the murder of rationalist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) has again questioned the lack of political will among the ruling powers and the tardiness of probe agencies in bringing to book the masterminds behind the crime. Dr. Hamid Dabholkar, son of the late rationalist, said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) till date had arrested ENT practitioner Dr. Virendra Tawde in 2016 (whom the agency had in fact referred to as ‘mastermind’); Sharad Kalaskar and Sachin Andure in August 2018 (named as the ‘sharpshooters’); and lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave in May 2019 as suspects in the crime. “The investigation into the murder has come to a halt with the names of Dr. Virendra Tawde and Amol Kale. It is not known at this time how they are planning to proceed further. The CBI must get to the bottom of this case by unravelling the masterminds, else the threat to the expression of rationalists, progressive activists and journalists in the country will not end. The CBI has yet to file a charge sheet against Amol Kale and against Amit Degvekar and Rajesh Bangera [prime suspects in the Gauri Lankesh murder],” said Hamid Dabholkar.