Was the same pistol used for Dabholkar, Lankesh murders?

Sachin Andhure being taken to court on Sunday

Establishing a link between the murders of journalist Gauri Lankesh and Pune-based rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday said a pistol recovered from Sachin Andhure, the prime suspect in Dabholkar's murder, was used for killing Lankesh in Bengaluru. They also said those involved in killing the rationalist had conducted a recce in Lankesh's case also.

On August 19, the Maharashtra ATS had arrested Andhure and handed him over to the CBI. He was later produced in a Pune court and remanded in police custody till August 26. The CBI once again produced him before the district court in Shivajinagar, which extended his custody till August 30.

In the remand application, S R Singh, CBI investigating officer, mentioned, "During Andhure's interrogation he revealed that an arrested accused in the Lankesh case had handed over a 7.65-mm country-made pistol and three bullets to him. Andhure passed them on to his brother-in-law Shubham Surale on August 11. After his arrest, Surale gave them to his friend Rohit Rajendra Rege. On searching Rege's house in Aurangabad, we recovered the weapon and bullets." A CBI officer said, "It seems the same gun was used for killing Lankesh. Moreover, we are planning to arrest another shooter in the Dabholkar case - Sharad Kalaskar - on August 29."

The officer added, "We have already obtained the production warrant from a Pune court for Kalaskar's custody. Andhure and Kalaskar both need to be interrogated together. Apart from this, we are also in the process of getting the custody of the other accused in the Lankesh murder case."

Opposing the extension of Andhure's custody, defence lawyer Prakash Salsingikar said, "The agency had earlier charge-sheeted Sanatan Sanstha's Dr Virendrasinh Tawde, and had also said Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar are wanted in the case. Before that, they had arrested Manish Nagori and Vikas Khandelwal. Now, they are saying that Andhure is involved. The agency is simply misleading the court."

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