Blurred, unclear CCTV footage will be sent to London lab

As the blurred CCTV footage of two bike-borne assailants escaping from the crime spot fails to offer any conclusive leads in the sensational murder case of anti-superstition activist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, the city police has decided to send the same footage to a London-based laboratory to break down the images from the camera grabs.

In time: After the death of Dr Narendra Dabholkar, the city police have decided to send the footage from the camera to a London-based laboratory to break down images from camera grabs to capture the perpetrator of the crime.u00a0File Pic

u00a0The CCTV footage, recovered by cops from a camera, which was installed outside the bank in Shaniwar Peth, immediately after the murder of Dabholkar on August 20, has not yielded any concrete clues about the identity of the unknown assailants yet.

Dr Narendra Dabholkar

"We are examining CCTV footage, which has only shown images of two motorbike riders but it is blurred and unclear to establish the identity and hence we have decided to send the footage to a London-based laboratory where it is said that they have some advanced technology that can enhance the picture quality of the footage," said additional commissioner of police (crime) Shahaji Solunke, who is monitoring the investigation.

Meanwhile, senior police inspector Bhanupratap Barge of the Faraskhana police station said that the ‘sadhak' from Sanatan Prabhat, who was picked up by them from Ramnathi ashram in Goa and brought back to Pune for questioning, has been released, as his role could not be established in the case.

"We had received information that a person resembling a sketch of the assailant, is currently residing at Sanatan Prabhat's ashram in Ramnathi, 30 km from Panaji in Goa and as per the information, our team went there and detained him and brought him back to Pune," said Barge.

He further said that, however, during the questioning, his role could not be established and later he was released. He said that the sadhak was originally from Pune and has his residence in Shivajinagar area. However, he has been living in the ashram for past several years. The National Investigation (NIA) team in the connection with the Margaon blast questioned the sadhak.