The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday questioned Nidhi Tawde, wife of Dr. Virendra Tawde, who is under arrest in connection with the 2013 murder of rationalist-thinker Dr. Narendra Dabholkar.
Ms. Tawde and her daughter have been living in Navi Mumbai since last year and both were on a holiday in the United Kingdom when Dr. Tawde was arrested on June 10. On her return to India on Sunday, the CBI contacted Ms. Tawde and summoned her to their Belapur office.
“We apprised her of the status of the case and questioned her on Tawde’s movements and interactions with other members of the Sanatan Sanstha during the period when the murder conspiracy was hatched. A team of our officers also searched her residence in Panvel,” said a CBI officer adding that she would be called again.
Another officer said Ms. Tawde was an active member of the Sanatan Sanshta till 2008 and had participated in some of the protests against Dr. Dabholkar. Her own movements were also being examined, he added.
“Nidhi was part of the group that, along with Tawde, barged into a programme where Dr Dabholkar was speaking in Kolhapur. Apart from her own links to the Sanstha, we are also finding out the extent of her interaction with her husband during the period that he exchanged emails, about the conspiracy, with Sarang Akolkar, and whether she had any knowledge of this,” the officer said.
An anti-superstition activist, Dr Dabholkar was shot dead by two men on a bike on August 20, 2013.
