Pune, August 19: The alleged main shooter arrested in the Narendra Dabholkar killing case received “shooting training” at various places in Maharashtra and Karnataka, the CBI told a court here Sunday.
Sachin Prakasrao Andure, who was arrested last evening by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was remanded today in the CBI custody till August 26.
He was produced before the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) A S Mujumdar at Shivajinagar amid heavy security. While seeking his custody for 14 days, CBI counsel (public prosecutor) Vijaykumar Dhakane said the investigation revealed that Andure had received “shooting training” at various places in Maharashtra and Karnataka before executing Dabholkar’s killing.
“The CBI needs to investigate where he underwent the shooting training and also people who provided the required infrastructure to both the shooters,” he said. The probe agency told the court that Andure is one of the two assailants who shot at Dabholkar at Omkareshwar Bridge here on August 20, 2013.
“The entire conspiracy was hatched by Dr Virendra Tawde along with this accused and this (conspiracy) needs to be unearthed for which his custodial interrogation is needed,” the CBI counsel told the court.
The CBI had arrested Hindu Janajagruti Samiti member Tawde in June 2016 from his house in Panvel in the neighbouring Navi Mumbai township and in the charge sheet, he was mentioned as the main conspirator.
Defence counsel Prakash Salsingikar raised questions over the arrest of Andure and said that after arresting Tawde, the CBI in its charge sheet mentioned the names of Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar as Dabholkar’s killers. He said the CBI claimed that sketches prepared on the basis of descriptions given by seven to eight witnesses resemble with the photos of Akolkar and Pawar.
“Now suddenly, the CBI has come out with this new theory that it was Andure who shot at Dabholkar. The sketches have no resemblance with Andure’s facial characteristics,” he said. In the charge sheet also, there was no mention of Andure, Salsingikar said, and opposed the prosecution’s demand for his 14-day custody.
He said the court should direct the prosecution to submit a copy of the charge sheet filed against Tawde in the case. Dhakane, however, said the CBI never named Akolkar and Pawar as the main killers and that the charge sheet only speaks about resemblance of sketches with Akolkar and Pawar. “The resemblance is only 50 to 60 per cent and nowhere in the charge sheet the CBI mentioned them as the accused,” he said.
