ATS chief Rakesh Maria, who was in the city yesterday to review the investigation from ATS officers, said that they are probing all angles in the murder of the renowned rationalist
The cellphones of 19 people, who belong to Hindu right-wing organisations, are being intercepted over the murder of anti-superstition activist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, who was shot dead by two unidentified assailants on August 20, at around 7.20 am.
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Since Dr Dabholkar, who was the president of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS) had spearheaded the fight against black magic, superstition and other ill practices in society and was pressing for the anti-superstition Act in the state. Several Hindu right-wing organisations had opposed his stance.
“As the Crime Branch suspects the involvement of some right-wing Hindu organisations role in the killing of Dr Dabholkar, we have put cellphones of some 19 people from these outfits on interception and their movements have been under the scanner,” said a Crime Branch official.
He further said that the driver of the bus, from which Dabholkar travelled to Pune from Dadar and alighted at Shimla Office Chowk at around 1.30 am on Tuesday had informed the cops that apart from Dabholkar, one more person got down from the bus and his description matches the sketch.
However, his claim has turned out to be false as a CCTV camera grab at his Shimla Office Chowk shows that only Dabholkar had got down from the bus and no other person had alighted.
Meanwhile, ATS chief Rakesh Maria, who was in the city yesterday to take the review of the investigation from the ATS officers, said that they are looking at all angles.u00a0