Bengaluru: The CBI and Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Saturday afternoon arrested pro-Hindutva activist Sachin Prakashrao Andure - the alleged shooter of Pune-based rationalist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar from Aurangabad in Maharashtra on a tipoff from the Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing the murder of activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh.
Top sources said that the SIT had shared with the CBI inputs on Andure and had said that he is a “person of interest” in their case after going through accused Amol Kale’s diary.
Dr Dabholkar was shot dead on August 20, 2013 in Pune by two bike borne assailants.
The SIT had also alerted the Maharashtra ATS on the three pro-Hindutva activists - Vaibhav Raut, Sudhanwa Gondhalkar and Sharad Kasalkar, who were arrested from Nalasopara and Satara and the ATS had recovered a huge cache of contraband firearms, explosives and incriminating literature from their possession.
"Gauri in her death has not only saved thousands of lives; she has also helped unearth the assassination of other rationalists, who were done in by allegedly the same module of Right wing hard liners,” said an official source. Meanwhile, Dr Hamid Dabholkar, son of the slain rationalist, expressed hope that with Andure’s arrest, the CBI would be able to solve his father’s murder on the eve of his fifth death anniversary. The families of Dabholkar and late Communist member Govind Pansare have been given security following inputs from Kale’s diary, which reportedly had the names of the family members on the hit list.
