CBI gets 45 days to file charge sheet

CBI gets 45 days to file charge sheet

PUNE: A judicial magistrate court on Saturday granted 45-day extension to the Navi Mumbai-based Special Crime Branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the murder of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, for filing charge sheet against five recently arrested accused in the case. The accused are alleged to have links with the right-wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha.

Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) SMA Sayyed also rejected bail application of the two accused. The CBI has invoked the ‘terrorist act’ related sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) under which the agency can get upto 180 days to file the charge sheet. In other cases, the time period is mostly 90 days. 

Defence lawyers Dharmraj Chandel and Sanjeev Punalekar opposed the demand by CBI claiming that the magistrate court does not have authority to grant the extension. However, the court rejected their claims. 

Dabholkar (67), who was an anti-superstition activist and founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), had gone for a morning walk when he was shot dead by two bike-borne men over a bridge between Omkareshwar temple and Balgandharva Auditorium on August 20, 2013.

The agency had arrested Sanatan Sanstha’s Dr Virendra Tawde in 2016 for the conspiracy and also filed a charge sheet against him. 

Meanwhile, the Karnataka police, while investigating the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, arrested some persons including a few from Maharashtra, and later informed the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Mumbai, about some members of right-wing organisations, who were planning bomb blasts. Accordingly, ATS nabbed three persons, including Sharad Kalaskar, who told the ATS about his involvement in the Dabholkar case with the help of Sachin Andure.

On August 18, Andure was arrested by the CBI after being informed by ATS. Till now, the CBI has arrested five persons- Andure, Kalaskar, Amol Kale, Rajesh Bangera and Amit Digvekar.

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