Three days after senior CPI leader Govind Pansare and his wife Uma were shot at by two assailants from a close range near their residence at Kolhapur in western Maharashtra, the local police on Thursday prepared sketches of the assailants behind the shocking crime, using descriptions given by eyewitnesses to the incident.
A day after the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the State Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, seeking reports within four weeks on steps taken by them to increase security for human rights activists, the Kolhapur police — using the descriptions provided by Uma Pansare and a school student — drew up the sketches of the two assailants.
The two assailants, who had come in a Pulsar motorbike, shot at Pansare (82) and his wife Uma (67) from a close range, near their residence “Ideal Housing Society” around 8.30 am on Monday last, when the couple was returning from a morning walk from the Shivaji University campus at Kolhapur.
In all, the assailants opened five rounds of fire at Pansares. While Pansare sustained bullet wounds on the nape of his neck and another minor injury on his hand, wife Uma suffered a bullet injury on her neck.
Uma and the student, an eyewitness to the incident, have told the police that one of the assailants had worn a rose coloured shirt. “We have prepared the sketches and will soon be sending them to various police stations and circulating the same through the media,” a senior police officer said.
Apart from the preparing the sketches of the alleged culprits behind the attack on Pansares, the Kolhapur police have not yet got landed any “credible leads” to the crime. The investigators have not yet established as to the motive behind the crime.
While he was on the forefront of the recent anti-toll agitation in Kolhapur, Pansare was known for his progressive look and forthright views against the communal ideology practised by the right-wing organisations and political parties. For the past one month, Pansare had been speaking vociferous against right wing organisations who were lionise Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.
In a related development, the NHRC has taken suo-motu cognisance of the incident and sought reports from the State Chief Secretary and DIG as to the steps taken by the State Government to create a ‘safe” environment for the human rights activists in the State.