Dabholkar murder case: CBI arrest man from Auranganbad, allegedly one of the shooters

Aurangabad, Aug 18: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday arrested Sachin Prakasrao Andure of Aurangabad (Maharashtra) in connection with Dabholkar murder case.

He was allegedly one of the shooters who fired at rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.

The arrest comes two weeks after the the Bombay HC had pulled up the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Special Investigating Team (SIT) for slow progress in the investigations into the murders of rationalists Dr Narendra Dabholkar and Dr Govind Pansare.

Sachin Prakasrao Andure, a resident of Aurangabad, was nabbed from Pune late in the evening, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) spokesperson said.

He will be produced before a Pune court tomorrow, he added.

Andure was believed to be one of the shooters who fired at Dabholkar while he was on a morning walk on the Onkareshwar Bridge in Pune on August 20, 2013, the CBI spokesperson said.

Earlier, the CBI chargesheet had named Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar, both absconding, as the shooters.

Asked about this and the agency's latest claim that Andure was one of the shooters, the spokesperson said the probe was going on.

Andure was arrested on a tip-off from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which had last week arrested three persons for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to carry out blasts in the state.

One of the arrested accused gave the input about Andure's involvement in Dabholkar's murder, which the ATS shared with the CBI, the spokesperson said.

During the questioning of the accused in police custody, one of them revealed about his direct participation in Dabhoikar's murder, the ATS said in a statement.

"He further revealed that along with him, one more person was also directly involved and they used a motorcycle," it added.

Considering the importance of the revelation, the ATS shared the details of the second person with the CBI, based on which the agency carried out its own preliminary investigation and arrested Andure, the statement said.

Dabholkar, a rationalist and an anti-superstition activist who had founded the Maharashtra Andhashradhha Unmoolan Samiti, was shot dead on August 20, 2013 while he was on a morning walk on the Omkareshwar bridge near the Balgandharva Rangamandir.

Dabholkar was 68 at the time of his death. He was the influence behind the anti-superstition bill which was pending in Maharashtra Assembly for 18 years.

The CBI had taken over this case in May 2014 on the directions of the Bombay High Court.

Tawde was allegedly the mastermind of the killing, the CBI had said.