Dabholkar murder case: Advocate Sanjeev Punalekar, Vikram Bhave sent to CBI custody till June 1

Mumbai, May 26: A Pune court on Sunday remanded Advocate Sanjeev Punalekar a lawyer representing some of the accused in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case and Vikram Bhave, a member of the Sanatan Sanstha to the Central Bureau of Investigation's custody till June 1.

Advocate Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave, a member of the Sanatan Sanstha which came under investigators' scanner after Dabholkar's killing, were arrested in Mumbai on Saturday.

Bhave, a Sanatan Sanstha member, is a convict in the 2008 Gadkari Rangayatan blast case, and currently on bail.

After he was released on bail, Bhave penned a book in Marathi, titled 'Malegaon Sphotamagil Adrushya Haat' (The invisible hand behind the Malegaon blast).

So far, six people, including Sanatan Sanstha member and ENT surgeon Virendrasinh Tawde, Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar have been arrested by the CBI in the Dabholkar case.

The CBI had claimed that Tawde was the "mastermind" of the conspiracy to kill Dabholkar and veteran CPI leader and rationalist Govind Pansare. Pansare was killed in Kolhapur in February 2015.

Andure and Kalaskar were the ones who shot Dabholkar, the CBI has claimed.

Dabholkar, a renowned anti-superstition activist, was shot dead while he was out on a morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013.