Narendra Dabholkar Murder Verdict: Incomplete and Unsatisfactory
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Below we publish the statement issued by the Maharashtra state committee of CPI(M) on May 10
TWO accused, Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, who shot anti-superstition crusader Dr Narendra Dabholkar dead, have been given a sentence of rigorous life imprisonment by a Special Court in Pune on May 10, 2024. While hailing this verdict, the Maharashtra state committee of the CPI(M) expresses its sense of anguish and dissatisfaction at the prosecution's failure to convince the court of the culpability of the three other accused, viz., Veerendra Tawade, Adv. Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave. Consequently, the latter three have been set free on account of the prosecution's inability to prove their guilt in the dastardly murder of this warrior for a scientific temper. Those convicted and those set free for lack of convincing evidence are the 'sadhaks' (followers) of the notorious Sanatan Sanstha.
The Maharashtra police initially, and the CBI later, dragged their feet for over a decade and finally ended in abject failure to apprehend the 'masterminds' of this heinous crime.
It may be recalled that it was the Karnataka police that first cracked this case while investigating the murder of the fearless and indomitable journalist Gauri Lankesh and scholar Dr M M Kalburgi. Their investigation opened a trail that led the Maharashtra police and the CBI to the terrorist gang, who planned, in their conspiracy to establish the so-called Hindu Rashtra, to fell those intellectuals and activists who swore by the Constitution of India.
In spite of the solid leads provided by the Karnataka police, the investigators in the Narendra Dabholkar and Comrade Govind Pansare murder cases failed miserably to go to the roots of this anti-national conspiracy. It is anybody's guess whether the administration buckled under the duress exerted by the Sanatan Sanstha and the forces behind it. By this imperfect justice, the clouds of suspicion about the intention of the governments, both union and state, have thickened rather than dispersed.
The case of the series of murders in Maharashtra and Karnataka cannot be said to have been satisfactorily concluded until all the culprits, identified and left unidentified by the investing agencies, are apprehended and ruthlessly brought to book. It is a telling comment on these agencies that they have not even claimed that the hands of the law have reached the masterminds of this terrorist crime. The CPI(M) expresses its deep dissatisfaction about the investigators' gross incompetence.
The CPI(M) calls upon the government to challenge this incomplete verdict in the Bombay High Court in proper earnest. It also appeals to the investigators to show their sincerity in bringing to justice all those culprits involved in the as yet unsolved case of the murder of Govind Pansare.
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