In a sensational disclosure, Maharashtra’s former Chief Minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar said on Wednesday that the previous DF Government had transferred the then Pune Police Commissioner Gulabrao Pol, after the latter resorted to “planchet” ( a method used to call the spirits) to seek a breakthrough in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case.

Confirming the findings of a sting operation carried out by a journalist in July 2014, Pawar clarified that the charge against the then Pune Police Commissioner that he had resorted to “planchet” was indeed correct. “We transferred Pol as he had resorted to planchet to achieve a breakthrough in the Dabholkar murder case,” he said.  

Sixty-nine-year-old anti-superstition crusader Dabholkar was shot dead from a point blank range by two motor-bicycle riding gunmen – aged between 25 and 30 years, while he was taking a morning walk on the Omkareshwar Bridge located in the heart of Pune, on August 20, 2013. The Pune Police, it may be recalled, had come in for severe criticism from various quarters for its failure to achieve a breakthrough in its investigations in the case.‘

After the Pune Police failed to make any headway into the investigations in the murder case, the Bombay High Court on May 5, 2014 handed over the investigations in the case to the CBI, overruling the objections raised by the Maharashtra Government.

After Pol was transferred Additional Director-General of Police incharge of Mahavitaran, the energy distribution utility of Maharashtra, on March 5, 2014, Satish Mathur replaced him in his post as the Pune Police Commissioner. Subsequently, Pol sought voluntary retirement from service.

A video sting operation carried out sometime in July 2014 by activist-journalist Ashish Khetan, who is currently with the Aam Admi Party, had showed that the then Pune Police Commissioner Pol had sought help of a retired police havaldar-cum-tantrik Manish Thakur to crack the murder of Dr Dabholkar. Pol had denied the “planchat” and threatened to file defamation suit against Khetan.

On their part, Ajit Pawar and then Home Minister R R Patil had promised to probe into the matter.  Pawar had also asked for evidence against Pol. What has surprised many is the fact that Pawar has chosen to spill the beans at a time when a committee appointed to check veracity of the allegation against Pol had not come with its report. 

Reacting to Pawar’s disclosure, Dabholkar’s son Hamid said that if there was indeed a report on the disclosure made by the former Deputy Chief Minister then the State Government should make the report public.

Hamid also demanded to know if Pol had indeed resorted to “planchet”, then why was he not booked under Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act.