Narendra Dabholkar's assasination: CBI conducts searches at Pune, Panvel

New Delhi: The CBI on Wednesday conducted a raid at the residence of an alleged ‘Sanatan Sanstha’ member Sarang Akolkar, wanted by NIA in connection with the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.

34-year-old Akolkar is alleged to be one of the key conspirators in the murder of Dabholkar, a rationalist who fought against superstitions all his life, on August 20, 2013 in Pune. 

Akolkar is believed to be linked to ‘Sanatan Sanstha’, a Hindu right wing organisation whose headquarters are located in Ponda, Goa. He has been on the run ever since his name cropped up during NIA investigations in the Goa blast case. NIA had secured an Interpol Red Corner Notice against him in 2012 but security agencies are yet to track him down. 

CBI sources said besides Akolkar’s house in Pune, searches were on at the premises of Virendra Singh Tawde in Panvel near Mumbai in connection with the Dabholkar assassination case. 

Two alleged Sanatan Sanstha operatives were killed when the bomb they were carrying accidentally exploded on Diwali eve in Margao in Goa. Six other accused, who had been charged with waging war against the nation in the case, were later acquitted by an NIA court. 

The blast had occurred at a place not far from where the then Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat was attending a fuction. The NIA charge sheet was dismissed on technical grounds by a special court in December 2013 as the agency had not sought sanction of the state government against the accused who were charged under Explosive Substances Act. 

NIA has filed an appeal which is pending before Goa bench of Bombay High Court. The Bombay High Court had transferred the probe in Dabholkar murder case to CBI on 9 May, 2014 on a PIL filed by former journalist Ketan Tirodkar on the plea that there was no headway several months after the killing of the eminent rationalist. 

(With PTI inputs)