Dabholkar case: Former Shiv Sena corporator Pangarkar arrested by ATS

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Former Shiv Sena corporator Shrikant Pangarkar was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Sunday in connection with the seizure of crude bombs and weapons from different parts of the state between August 9 and 11, an ATS official said.

Pangarkar was arrested under the Explosives Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, he added.

Three persons -- Vaibhav Raut, Sharad Kalaskar and Sudhanwa Gondhalekar -- were arrested from Palghar and Pune districts on August 10 in connection with the seizure of bombs and weapons.

All three are in ATS custody till August 28.

Pangarkar, a former member of the Jalna Municipal Corporation, was detained by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last night in connection with the killing of anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar.

CBI sources had said Pangarkar's name had cropped up during the interrogation of Sachin Prakasrao Andure, the alleged main shooter in the Dabholkar murder case.

Andure, who was arrested by the CBI from Pune last evening, was produced before the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class A S Mujumdar at Shivajinagar today and remanded to the agency's custody till August 26.

The CBI told the court that Andure was one of the two assailants who had shot at Dabholkar at the Omkareshwar Bridge in Pune on August 20, 2013.

Pangarkar, aged around 40, was detained after Andure told the CBI that he was with him when Dabholkar was killed, the sources said.

The former corporator was allegedly riding pillion on the motorcycle driven by Andure, they added.

Dabholkar (67) was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants on August 20, 2013, when he was on a morning walk near his home in Pune.

Andure was arrested on a tip-off from the Maharashtra ATS, which had arrested Raut, Kalaskar and Gondhalekar for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to carry out blasts in the state.

One of the arrested accused gave the input about Andure's involvement in Dabholkar's murder, which the ATS shared with the CBI.

Dabholkar's murder case was transferred to the CBI from the Pune Police in 2014.