SIT claims 14-year-old boy saw the Sanatan Sanstha member and an unknown assailant firing at rationalist Govind Pansare and his wife.
The Bombay High Court (HC) on Monday rejected the bail plea of Sanatan Sanstha Sadhak Sameer Gaikwad, arrested in connection with the murder of communist leader Comrade Govind Pansare. The Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing Pansare’s murder revealed for the first time before the bench that they have a 14-year-old eyewitness who saw motorcycle-borne assailant Gaikwad and another killer firing rounds at Pansare.
This is first time that the SIT has openly admitted to the presence of an eyewitness who ‘saw’ Gaikwad in the act.
The team also submitted that they have transcriptions of intercepted phone conversations between two women sadhaks and Gaikwad, where he made extra-judicial confessions about the murder and other ills.
Gaikwad’s bail plea was rejected by Justice C V Bhadang, who said there was direct evidence of an eyewitness and corroborative circumstantial evidence to show alleged involvement of the accused in the murder.
Bhadang also said that while Gaikwad had no personal enmity with Pansare, he certainly possessed strong ideological differences with the rationalist, which could explain why he killed him.
The material collected by the police and produced before the court clearly shows that it was a pre-planned conspiracy to kill the Communist leader, Bhadang said in his order.
On June 23, Gaikwad, in his bail application, had claimed that there was no evidence to pin him in the crime. He sought bail on the ground that there is no progress in the investigation and an absence of evidence.
However, special public prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar opposed the plea, saying there was direct and circumstantial evidence linking Gaikwad.
Speaking to Mirror from Mumbai, Nimbalkar said, “We have revealed solid evidence before the court that a 14-year-old boy saw the incident and has given an exact description of the accused. The boy may be in trouble if the accused is released on bail.”
He added, “The boy was there on February 16, 2015, when two unidentified assailants opened fire on Pansare and his wife Uma. He even narrated the incident to his teacher after reaching school. He has said in his statement that one of the killers was definitely Gaikwad.”
“We also have the transcription of a conversation between Gaikwad and two women sadhaks – Jyoti Kamble and Anjali Jarkar — where he has made extra-judicial confessions. The accused says that he had committed several sins in the past, including killing Pansare,” Nimbalkar said.
Gaikwad is the only suspect arrested by the Kolhapur police in connection with this case. He was arrested on September 16 last year from his residence at Sangli.
Justice V Bhadang also asked the SIT why it had not taken custody of Virendra Tawde, arrested accused in rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar’s murder case. The SIT claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) caused delays while giving them the interrogation report. The team received the report on a couple of days ago and requires more time to study it.
The hearing on the progress report in the Pansare case is scheduled for August 4, where the SIT is to submit why they want custody of Tawde in connection with Pansare’s murder.
Nimbalkar said, “We will take a decision after we go through the CBI investigation on Tawde. The Pune court has already granted permission so we are free to take his custody at an appropriate time.