Sanatan Sanstha lashes out at SIT over drugs issue

Advocate Punalekar claimed the Sanstha was being needlessly dragged in the case and defamed

Sanatan Sanstha, which is under scanner in the murder of CPI leader Govind Pansare, rubbished police claims that drugs were found at its ashram near here and said investigators were "deviating" from their path and making false allegations against the outfit.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Maharashtra Police, probing the murder case, told a Court in Kolhapur it had found some drugs which could affect the nervous system.

Addressing a press conference here, a spokesman of the Goa-headquartered right wing outfit vehemently denied SIT had seized narcotics from its Panvel ashram.

"Many seekers in various age groups reside in the ashram that runs a free dispensary managed by qualified doctors having experience of 20-30 years. The medicines in the dispensary are purchased from the market with bills.

"But we are very sorry to say the investigating agency enacted a drama to seize these medicines and told the media they were narcotics," Abhay Vartak, spokesperson of Sanstha, said.

Legal adviser to the Sanstha, advocate Sanjeev Punalekar, questioned, "What is the connection between investigation in a murder case and medicines."

He said the police were "deviating" from their path and making false allegations against the outfit.

Punalekar claimed the Sanstha was being needlessly dragged in the case and defamed.

ENT doctor Virendra Tawde, a member of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), an offshoot of the Sanstha — who has been chargesheeted in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case — is an accused in the Pansare case also.