Last week the Central Bureau of Investigation officials raided the houses of Dr. Virendra Tawde at Panvel and of Sarang Akolkar in Pune and recovered several SIM cards, cellphones and data from computer linked to the murder. CBI officers have claimed to have found several e-mail exchanges between the two, which established their close association.
Hailing from Devgad in the Konkan, Tawde lived in Satara for the past eight years, and is alleged to be a Sanatan activist for the past 15 years. His home at Panvel is close to the Sanatan ashram.
Dr. Hamid Dabholkar, son of Narendra Dabholkar, said: “[Tawde’s arrest] shows the wheels of justice have started to spin, even if a tad too late. It is the first big step in the right direction by the CBI.” Had the action been taken immediately after the murder, the subsequent deaths of Govind Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi could have been avoided, he said.
“Since the role of extremist outfits has been exposed in Pansare’s murder and now in the Dabholkar case, we demand that the State government act against such outfits and that the CBI team, which is investigating the Dabholkar murder, co-ordinate with the SIT that is probing the Pansare murder,” said Medha Pansare, Mr. Pansare’s daughter-in-law.
‘A policy to target us’
Meanwhile, Sanatan Sanstha spokesperson Abhay Vartak has said that it was sad to see that Hindu organisations were being targeted in spite of a Hindu government being in power.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Mr. Vartak said, “When the Congress party was in power, there were lot of conspiracies against the Sanatan Sanstha. It is sad that the same is going on even after the government has changed. A Hindu government has come to power and the harassment of Hindu organisations continues just to please the pseudo-seculars. More than 800 of our sadhaks have been questioned so far. Raids have been conducted at all hours of the night. We have only cooperated with all the action taken by various investigating agencies and this is what we get in return. It had become a policy to come after us every time a case can not be solved. The real culprits must be sitting in their houses and laughing right now.”
Sunil Dhanwat, a senior member of the Sanstha, said that contrary to reports, Tawde was no longer a member of the Sanstha. “Dr. Tawde used to be a member of the Hindu Janjagriti Samiti till 2007, but is no longer one,” he said.
Mr. Vartak said Tawde was currently visiting the Panvel ashram of the Sanstha and treating the patients there on an honorary basis, but was not an office-bearer or member.
“The life of Sadhvi Pragya Singh was ruined. She spent eight years in jail and then the police said there is not enough evidence against her. Now they are destroying the life of a well-liked ENT surgeon. We have been receiving calls from a lot of pro-Hindutva organisations who have expressed their support and backing, and they are all unhappy with the BJP government. One day, we will hold a press conference about Dr. Tawde being proven innocent, and he will be addressing it.”
