Pune: A magistrate court, on Tuesday, remanded Sharad Kalaskar of Aurangabad to CBI police custody till September 10 in connection with the murder of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar. CBI has claimed that he is the second shooter in the case. His accomplice, Sachin Prakashrao Andure, also from Aurangabad, has already been arrested.
The agency informed the court that Kalaskar is an expert bomb maker and weapons trainer. “We need his custody to find out about the other conspirators, who helped them. Also, we have to recover the getaway vehicle and firearm used by him.
Kalaskar is one of the conspirators in the Dabholkar murder case. The entire conspiracy hatched by Dr Virendrasinh Tawde (who has been charge-sheeted by CBI) along with Kalaskar and others has to be unearthed, for which the custodial interrogation in police custody is required,” CBI prosecutor Vijaykumar Dhakne argued in the court of JMFC SMA Sayyed.
Defence lawyer Dharma Raj Chandel opposed the demand for police custody arguing that Andure was already in their custody but the agency has not recovered the vehicle. “Kalaskar should be remanded to magisterial custody as the CBI may pressurise him to give a confessional statement, which he is not willing to give,” Chandel argued.
After hearing both sides, the magistrate remanded Kalaskar to police custody till September 10.
Their names had cropped up during an interrogation of an accused planning a bomb blast. Maharashtra ATS had arrested few persons along with Kalaskar, who reportedly confessed about his involvement in Dabholkar murder case along with Andure. CBI had arrested Andure on August 18.
