Pansare murder: court grants conditional bail to Dr. Tawde

Tawde, prime accused in Dr. Dabholkar’s murder, is lodged at Yerwada prison

January 30, 2018 05:46 pm | Updated 05:47 pm IST - Pune

 Dr. Virendra Tawde

Dr. Virendra Tawde

In yet another setback to the Govind Pansare murder case, the Kolhapur sessions court on Tuesday granted conditional bail to Hindutva activist Virendra Tawde, suspected to have played a key role in the killing of the veteran Communist leader.

As per the bail conditions, Mr. Tawde’s passport will be impounded and he cannot leave the State.

Mr. Tawde, an ENT specialist who worked actively for the radical Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (a splinter group of the Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha) is prime accused in the 2013 murder of rationalist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar in Pune.

He is now lodged in the high-security Yerwada Jail after the Additional Sessions Court in Pune quashed his bail plea in October last year.

Expressing disappointment at Mr. Tawde being given bail, Megha Pansare, daughter-in-law of the deceased Communist leader, pointed to the slow pace of investigation, as Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar, the two activists of the Sanatan Sanstha suspected to have carried out the actual shooting of Pansare are still to be arrested.

“The SIT’s delay in nabbing Akolkar and Pawar is stalling the trial of the accused such as Sameer Gaikwad and Tawde. We urge the State government to have a dedicated team within the SIT to pursue the case, affected by frequent transfers,” Ms. Pansare told The Hindu .

In June last year, the court, after three rejections, gave conditional bail to Sanatan Sanstha activist Sameer Gaikwad, prime accused in the Pansare murder case. Gaikwad was picked up from Sangli in September 2015, the first arrest in the Pansare case.

The veteran Communist leader, along with his wife Uma, was shot outside their home in Kolhapur’s Sagar Mal locality on February 16, 2015. Mr. Pansare succumbed to his wounds four days later.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.