Pune: Opposition to Dr Narendra Dabholkar’s crusade against superstition led to the conspiracy to eliminate him, the prosecution on Tuesday told the court here as it started final arguments in the 2013 murder case.
Special public prosecutor Prakash Suryawanshi cited statements of some key witnesses including Dabholkar’s son Hamid Dabholkar to buttress the point.
Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead on August 20, 2013, when he was on a morning walk on Omkareshwar Bridge in Pune city.
Arguing before additional sessions judge P P Jadhav, the prosecution referred to the testimonies of Hamid Dabholkar, Sanjay Sadvilkar, and Prashant Potdar.
Hamid Dabholkar and the slain rationalist’s long-time associate Prashant Potdar had stated in their depositions that the radical Hindu organisation Sanatan Sanstha — with which some of the accused were linked — was opposed to the work carried out by Narendra Dabholkar’s `Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti’ (committee for eradication of superstition).
This opposition formed the motive for the murder conspiracy, the prosecution argued.
It also relied on psychological assessments reports of the accused, obtained from the central forensic laboratory.
He would complete his arguments on February 17, the next date of hearing, prosecutor Suryawanshi said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe in 2014 following a Bombay high court order, and arrested Dr Virendrasinh Tawade, an ENT surgeon linked to Sanatan Sanstha, in June 2016. According to the CBI, he was one of the masterminds of the crime.
The agency also arrested alleged shooters — Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar — and co-conspirators Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave.
While Tawde, Andure, and Kalaskar are in jail, Punalekar and Bhave are out on bail.
