Pansare murder: HC asks Maharashtra ATS to verify information to be submitted by family

Mumbai, Jun 12 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), probing the 2015 killing of Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Govind Pansare, to verify the information that will be submitted by his family on the probable motive behind the murder and file an affidavit by July 11.

The family of Pansare (82) has been reiterating before the high court that the main culprits and conspirators behind the killing were still at large.

The family’s advocate, Abhay Nevgi, told a division bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Neela Gokhale that right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha was suspected to be behind the crime.

In the past, the Goa-headquartered outfit has said it has been wrongly targeted in the case.

The bench said a special team of the ATS has been probing the case since August 2022. The court said if the family wishes they can submit whatever information they have to the probe agency.

“The investigating agency is directed to verify and look into the same and submit a comprehensive affidavit by July 11,” the judges directed.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing on July 12.

Pansare, a well-known rationalist, was shot at on February 16, 2015 outside his house in Kolhapur in south-western Maharashtra by unidentified persons, and succumbed to his injuries a few days later on February 20.

Initially, the case was probed by a special team of the state CID, which had arrested 12 persons. The trial against them is on.

However, in 2022 the case was transferred to the ATS after the Communist leader’s family claimed the CID had failed to nab the conspirators behind the crime.

Since then, the ATS has been submitting periodical probe reports to the court.