The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to inform it what steps it has taken to nab Rudra Patil, accused of the 2009 Goa blast, who is also a suspect in the killing of CPI leader Govind Pansare. A bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Rajesh Ketkar passed the direction after it was informed that Sameer Gaikwad of the outfit Sanatan Sanstha, who was arrested recently over Pansare’s killing, appears to be friends with Patil who is absconding.
Advocate Abhay Nevagi, appearing for Pansare’s kin, said police suspect Patil’s involvement in this case as reflected in the order passed by the magistrate while transferring Gaikwad to judicial custody. He pointed out that the magistrate has observed that there is no material progress in the investigations in police custody. “Look at the way the agencies are operating. He is absconding for six years. There is an Interpol red corner alert,” said Nevagi. He informed that Patil’s wife Priti, an advocate, appears on record for Gaikwad. “There is no doubt of some link,” remarked Justice More. The prosecutor said Gaikwad is not cooperating and “they (SIT) are taking other steps”.
The court is hearing petitions by the kin of Pansare and slain rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, seeking the HC’s monitoring of the probe being conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation into Dabholkar’s murder and a special investigation team of the state police into Pansare’s. Dabholkar was shot dead on August 20, 2013, in Pune. Pansare was shot at on February 16, 2015, in Kolhapur and died on February 20.
The CBI and SIT submitted confidential status reports to the court on the investigations. Perusing them, the court said both agencies are coordinating with each other. But the court agreed with Nevagi that there is no mention of efforts to trace Patil. “The report is silent on steps taken to nab Rudra Patil,” said Justice More. “The report is totally silent,” added Justice Ketkar.
When Nevagi informed that no special public prosecutor had been appointed in the case and an SIT police officer argued for Gaikwad’s police remand, Justice More remarked, “Very sorry state of affairs”. The court has directed submission of further progress reports at the next hearing on October 20. “We want to satisfy ourselves that the investigation is in the proper direction,” the bench said.