Recalling that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the murder of rationalist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar in Pune, has not been able to nab the culprits seven years after the crime, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said he wishes the same fate does not befall the central agency’s investigation into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Reacting for the first time since the Supreme Court verdict in the case, Mr. Pawar said, “The Supreme Court has ordered the transfer of the probe into the Sushant Singh Rajput death case to the CBI. I am confident that the Maharashtra government will respect the verdict and cooperate with the CBI.”
He, however, taunted the CBI over its pending investigation in the Dr. Dabholkar murder case. “I hope this investigation will not face the same fate as the one started by the CBI in 2014 in Dr. Narendra Dabholkar murder case which is still pending,” the NCP chief said.
Dr. Dabholkar was shot dead in Pune on August 20, 2013. In 2014, the investigation was handed over to the CBI. Following a petition filed by the family of Dr. Dabholkar, the CBI has been submitting the investigation’s progress report every month to the Bombay High Court in a sealed envelope. According to the CBI, Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, who are in jail, shot Dr. Dabholkar. However, neither the trial has begun nor the mastermind behind the murder has been arrested.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised Mr. Pawar for linking the actor’s case with that of Dr. Dabholkar. “Dr. Dabholkar was murdered in 2013 and then the Congress-NCP government was ruling Maharashtra. Had they arrested the masterminds before going out of power, then Sharad Pawar would not have needed to make this statement,” said BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar.
