Dabholkar murder: CBI gets custody of rightwing activist

Pune, June 11: Rightwing activist Virendra S. Tawde, bbed on Friday for alleged involvement in the 2013 murder of ratiolist rendra Dabholkar, was on Saturday sent to CBI custody till June 16. Tawde, an ENT specialist who is believed to be a coorditor of the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) and a member of Satan Sanstha, was arrested from his home at Panvel in Raigad district by the CBI. He was produced before the Sessions Court which sent him to the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation for a week.

The CBI has said it has “cyber forensic evidences” against Tawde and he was interrogated for several hours before being placed under arrest around 8.30 p.m. on Friday. Earlier, the CBI raised Tawde’s residences and questioned him at the Satan Sanstha ashram at Panvel. It was the first arrest since the central agency took over the case in May 2014 following the Bombay High Court directives.

A Satan Sanstha spokesperson said Tawde was not a member of the HJS and attempts were being made to tarnish the Sanstha’s me. Dabholkar was gunned down by two unidentified motorcycle borne assailants when near the Omkareshwar Bridge close to his Pune home on August 20, 2013. His family and others claimed that since he promoted ratiolism, he was allegedly targeting by rightwing organizations hurt by his campaigns. (IANS)