The Karnataka government on Wednesday maintained that an initial probe suggests a common link between the murders of rationalists Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar in Maharashtra and scholar M.M. Kalburgi in Karnataka.
“The Criminal Investigation Department of Karnataka, which has been probing the murder of Kannada writer Kalburgi, has found evidence of a common link in the killing of the three rationalists. Prima facie, we have found similarities,” Home Minister G. Parameshwara said.
The CID teams that travelled to Kolhapur and Pune, hometowns of Dabholkar and Pansare, have been investigating whether the killing of Kalburgi is linked to the other two murders. Sources indicated that all three were murdered by professional killers.
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Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju had told Parliament that “as per available information, there is no report to suggest any link/connection between the murders of Pansare, Dabholkar and Kalburgi”.
Contradicting Mr. Rijiju’s statement, Dr. Parameshwara told presspersons that “the CID is investigating into thousands of calls made to Kalburgi”, who was shot dead on the morning of August 30, 2015.
He said: “The CID is seriously conducting the probe, and we are expecting to arrest the culprits involved in the killing of Kalburgi.” He dismissed reports about the CID probe being slow, saying the agency had been grilling suspects.
