Having failed to track two of the key accused in the much-discussed Narendra Dabholkar murder case, the CBI has announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for persons providing information on the whereabouts of the absconding men Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar.
Through a circular issued by it, the CBI stated that it would give a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each to persons providing information on Akolkar (35) and Pawar (37). The circular also carries of the photographs of the two absconding accused.
In its the circular, the CBI has given the addresses and telephone numbers of the two offices ( the agency’s office in Navi Mumbai --022-27576820, Investigation Officer S R Singh -- mobile number 8425832955 email id: hobscmum@cbi.gov.in) where the information could be provided. It has assured the informers concerned that it would keep their identity secret.
It may be recalled that the CBI had on September 7 last year, the CBI had filed a charge-sheet in the Dabholkar murder case before a First Class Judicial Magistrate in Pune. In the charge-sheet filed against Dr Virendrasinh Tawde, an activist of Sanatan Sanstha, the CBI had also named Akolkar and Pawar as the absconding accused.
Dr Tawade, who was arrested from the Sanstha’s ashram at Panvel in Raigad district on June 10, 2016, has been charged under sections under 129 (b) and 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code. Dr Tawde is currently lodged at Yerwada Central Jail, Pune.
Sixty-nine-year-old rationalist and anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead from a point blank range by two motor-bicycle riding gunmen, while he was taking a morning walk on the Omkareshwar bridge located in the heart of Pune, on August 20, 2013.
Te brutal gunning down of Dabholkar -who had long been crusading for the passage of anti-superstition and black magic bill in the Maharashtra legislature - had caused a major furore in the State. The Maharashtra government had faced criticism from various quarters for months on end.
With the state police having failed to make any headway in the investigations into the Dabholkar murder case, the Bombay High Court had transferred the case to the CBI on May 9, 2014, after overruling the objections raised by the Maharashtra Government.