11 years after the murder of activist Dabholkar, court convicts 2, acquits 3

P.P. Jadhav, the Sessions Court Judge, found Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar guilty and gave them life sentences. Virendrasingh Tawade, Vikram Bhave, and Sanjeev Punalekar have all been absolved.

Who Was Dabholkar?

From Maharashtra, India, Narendra Achyut Dabholkar was a physician, social activist, rationalist, and writer who lived from 1 November 1945 until 20 August 2013.He was the founder of  the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS, Committee for Eradication of Superstition in Maharashtra) established in 1989 and rose to the position of president. Four days after he was assassinated in 2013, the state of Maharashtra enacted the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Ordinance. In recognition of his social work, he received the Padma Shri posthumously in 2014.

In the 1980s, Dabholkar left his job as a doctor to serve as a social worker for 12 years. He was active in social justice initiatives, like Baba Adhav’s Ek Gaon Ek Panotha (One village, One well) campaign.

Dabholkar eventually became involved with the Akhil Bharatiya Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (ABANS) and began concentrating on the abolition of superstition. The Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (M.A.N.S., literally “Committee for Eradication of Superstition in Maharashtra”) was established by him in 1989. 

He waged a campaign against superstitions, addressing questionable tantriks and purported holy men who offered “miracle cures” for illnesses. The “godmen” of the nation, self-styled Hindu ascetics with large followings who claim to be miracle workers, were condemned by him.

Dabhoklar’s Murder:

Since 1983, Dabholkar was the target of several threats and assaults, but he refused police protection.

Murdered on August 20, 2013, around 7:20 a.m., Dabholkar was shot and killed by two shooters while taking a morning stroll close to the Omkareshwar temple in Pune. Four shots were fired at him at point blank range by the attackers, who then took off on a nearby motorbike. Investigations later revealed that the Sanatan Sanstha, a Hindu organization, was responsible for organizing his assassination. Additionally, this organization is connected to the killings of Kalburgi and Pansare.

What Was The Court’s Verdict?

On May 10, eleven years after rationalist Narendra Dabholkar was shot and killed, a Pune court found two people guilty and found three not guilty.

According to Bar and Bench, P.P. Jadhav, a sessions judge, found Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar guilty and sentenced them to life in prison plus a fine of Rs 5 lakh. 

Sanjeev Punalekar, Vikram Bhave, and Dr. Virendrasingh Tawade were found not guilty. All of the defendants had ties to the Sanatan Sanstha group.

Currently, Andure, Kalaskar, and Tawade are under judicial custody.

Following Dabholkar’s murder in Pune, Govind Pansare was assassinated by gunshot in February 2015, and MM Kalburgi died in the same month. In September 2017, Gauri Lankesh was fatally shot outside her Bengaluru residence.

Pune Police looked into the matter at first. In June 2016, Dr. Virendrasinh Tawade, an ENT surgeon associated with the Hindu right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha, was taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had taken over the investigation in 2014 as a result of an order from the Bombay High Court.

As previously reported, Sharad Kalaskar is the link between the killings of journalist Gauri Lankesh, activist Govind Pansare, and campaigner Dabholkar.

Their lawyer, Sanjeev Punalekar, was charged with evidence disappearance but was later apprehended; he was found not guilty.

As per Bar and Bench, the court stated that the intention behind killing Dabholkar was to make sure that nobody would take over the role of MANS.

In 2014, the Central Bureau of Investigation took up the investigation into his murder. The Bombay High Court chastised the CBI for procrastinating on the matter.

Despite the sessions matter being launched in 2016, the trial had not begun until 2021, as stated in the Bar and Bench report.