Narendra Dabholkar murder case: Accused Sachin Andure, Sharad Kalaskar get life imprisonment; 3 acquitted

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], May 10 (ANI): 10 years after the murder of Narendra Dabholkar, a Special Court in Pune sentenced two men to life imprisonment and acquitted three, including key accused Virendrasinh Tawde, in the murder of well-known rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
The court awarded life in prison to Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar and a fine of Rs 5 lakh while ENT surgeon Virendrasinh Tawde, Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Reading out the order in a courtroom, Additional Sessions Judge (Special Court) P P Jadhav said that the prosecution had proved the charges of murder and conspiracy against Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar and they have been awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.
Dabholkar’s son Hamid and daughter Mukta attended the hearing while speaking to reporters outside the court complex, Mukta said, “This is an important judgement… We will approach the High Court against the acquittal of three accused in the case. They (accused) were also involved in three similar cases so this judgement is also important for families of those who lost lives. I have full faith in the law.”
Commenting on the verdict, Lawyer Prakash Salshingekar said, “This is the rarest case…After receiving the detailed court verdict, we will challenge the court’s decision regarding the acquittal of the three accused in the High Court. The court acquitted Virendrasinh Tawde, who is said to be the mastermind of the case, due to lack of evidence.”
Narendra Dabholkar was gunned down in Pune in 2013 by Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar when he was out on a morning walk.
Pune police initially probed the case. The CBI took over the probe in 2014 following a Bombay High Court order and arrested Tawde linked to the Hindu right-wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha, in June 2016. According to the prosecution, Tawde was allegedly one of the masterminds of the murder, a charge they were unable to prove in court.

The prosecution at the time had claimed Sanatan Sanstha, to which Tawade and some of the other accused were linked, was opposed to the work carried out by Dabholkar’s organisation, the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (committee for eradication of superstition, Maharashtra).
In its response to the verdict, the Sanatan Sanstha in a series of posts on X said, “The Dabholkar family’s nefarious ploy to set the Hindu Terror and anti-Sanatan narrative in the Narendra Dabholkar case stands exposed today. They deliberately derailed and then stalled the investigations for years to force the agencies to implicate Sanatan Sanstha. But truth prevails. Virendrasingh Tawde – a surgeon with an illustrious career, Sanjiv Punalekar – a famous lawyer, Vikram Bhave – a social activist were all made to rot in jail without evidence…But truth prevails and they are free at last.”