Two more arrests in Narendra Dabholkar murder case

Shooters had followed Narendra Dabholkar for a year

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday brought Amit Ramchandra Digvekar, 38, and Ramesh D Bangera, 50, arrested in the murder of journalist/activist Gauri Lankesh and now accused in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case, from Bengaluru and produced them along with another accused, Sachin Andure, before Judicial Magistrate (First Class) R R Bhalghat.

While Digvekar and Bangera have been remanded in CBI custody till September 10, Andure got judicial custody as his 13-day police remand is over. CBI Counsel Vijaykumar Dhakane argued, "Those arrested had been planning Dabholkar's murder since 2012 and had been conducting a recce for months. They followed his routine and checked out all the spots he visited."

Stressing on police custody, Dhakane argued, "We are yet to recover the murder weapon and bike used in the murder." In court, Digvekar told the magistrate that while he was in custody of Karnataka SIT, he had been manhandled and hoped the CBI would not do the same.

A CBI official told mid-day on condition of anonymity, "Kalaskar initially fired two rounds at Dabolkar and Andure later fired two rounds. They then rode via Cosmos Bank, using small lanes and landed near Karvenagar. There, a person was waiting for them to whom they gave their weapons. They then changed their clothes and abandoned their vehicle. Andure then took public transport to Aurangabad and Kalaskar to his Pune house."

The officer added, "We are waiting for the custody of Amol Kale, who was arrested in connection with the murder of Gauri Lankesh from Banglore SIT as his police custody is getting over by September 5. We will be getting custody of Kalaskar from ATS."

Defence lawyers Sameer Patharwadhan, Dharmaraj Chandel and Nita Dhawade argued that the CBI had filed a charge sheet and had also released sketches that matched the absconding accused, yet innocent people were arrested."

Need 90 more days for charge sheet: cops
The Pune police, investigating the Elgaar Parishad violence which is claimed to be the trigger for the Bhima Koregaon riots, approached the court of Special Judge K D Wadane to seek 90 more days file the charge sheet.

The Pune city police had, on June 6, arrested New Delhi-based Rona Wilson, while the Mumbai police arrested Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut, and the Nagpur police picked up Surendra Gadling in the case. Defence lawyers Rohan Nahar and Rahul Deshmukh told the court that they needed to find out the reason for the application and time to discuss it with their clients. They stressed on the application being heard on Monday.

Pune district government pleader Ujjawala Pawar argued, "As ACP Shivaji Pawar will be present in the Supreme Court on Monday, he cannot be at the Pune court." The matter may be heard at 10 am on Sunday 10 by Judge Wadane.

Also Read - Mumbai: CBI Officers Take Sachin Andure To Spot Where Dabholkar Was Shot Dead

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