Accused in Narendra Dabholkar murder case granted bail on grounds of illegal detention

A Pune sessions court granted bail to the accused in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case. The three accused Amol Kale, Rakesh Bangera and Amit Degwekar were granted bail because the CBI had not filed a charge-sheet against them within the 90 day period.

Two of the accused are presently in judicial custody with the Karnataka SIT in connection to the Gauri Lankesh murder case and Amol Kale is in the custody of the SIT team which is investigating the Govind Pansare murder case.

The accused, had applied for bail through their lawyer Dharma Raj Chandel, on Wednesday, December 12. They had applied for bail under Section 167 (2) of the CrPC as their detention in judicial custody had become illegal.

The bail application stated that the CBI had not sought additional time to file a charge sheet against the accused under Section 43 (D) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

He argued that the detention of the accused had become illegal and they were entitled to bail on the grounds of default in filing supplementary chargesheet against them. when asked Chandel stated that the CBI failed to file an application before the special UAPA court to seek additional time for filing chargesheet against the accused.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier established links between the murders of Pune-based rationalist Narendra Dabholkar and Bengaluru-based journalist Gauri Lankesh.

Rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, 67, who fought against superstitious beliefs through his Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), was gunned down near his residence on the morning of June 20, 2013.

Two unidentified motorcycle borne assailants fired several rounds at him near the Omkareshwar temple in Pune.

Almost four years later, Gauri Lankesh, 55, journalist-cum-activist, was shot dead outside her residence in Bangalore on September 5, 2017.

She served as the editor of Lankesh Patrike, a Kannada weekly launched by her father P Lankesh, and also ran her own weekly called Gauri Lankesh Patrike.

Though the two high-profile murders were committed four years apart, in both these cases, the long suspected alleged role of certain right-wing activists, including those associated with Sanatan Sanstha and others, has now emerged.