Mumbai : It has been exactly two years since rationalist Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead in Pune, but his killers continue to elude the law till this date. Finally, the state government seem to have woken up from the slumber and have selected a team of seven high ranking police officials from Pune, Nagpur and Yawatmal to assist the CBI in investigation in the case.
Dabholkar, a medico-turned-campaigner against superstitions and black magic who headed the Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (ANS), was gunned down by motorcycle-borne assailants during a morning walk on August 20, 2013.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made an announcement here in this regard on Thursday, the second anniversary of the killing of Dabholkar.
“This 7-member team which will assist CBI in Narendra Dabholkar mur-der case comprises one Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), four Police Inspectors and two Police Sub Inspectors,” Fadnavis said.
The decision has been taken as per CBI’s demand of additional manpower from the state government. “The CBI wanted police officials who had investigated the case earlier and the state government has replied to their demand immediately,” Fadnavis said.
“The officials will assist the CBI for three months or till the case is cracked,” he added. The team includes assistant police commissioner G S Madgulkar from Pune, police inspector from Nagpur Satish Devre, Chandrakant Ghodke from Yawatmal and Dinkar Kadam from Pune among others.
Dabholkar, who was founder of the Andhshradda Nirmulan Samiti (ANS), was shot down on August 20, 2013 in Pune by unidentified gunmen. The state police had failed to trace the culprits and the case was handed over to CBI.
Meanwhile, in protest, several hundred activists, including Dabholkar’s wife and two children, held a march in Pune on Thursday.
“It has been two years and investigators are yet to achieve a breakthrough. We have a single-point demand: nab his killers,” said his daughter Mukta Dabholkar, who with her brother Hamid have been carrying forward their father’s legacy.
Dabholkar’s killing prompted the government to enact the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices, and Black Magic Act, 2013. It is popular as the anti-superstitions and black magic law.
