Dabholkar murder: 2 accused sent to CBI custody

A Pune sessions on Saturday sent Rajesh Bangera and Amit Degwekar, the two accused in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case, to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody for 10 days.

On the other hand, Sachin Andure, who was arrested by the CBI on August 18 from Aurangabad, was sent to magistrate custody.

Speaking to reporters here, Bangera and Digvekar's lawyer, Sameer Patvardhan, claimed that his clients were not involved in killing Dabholkar, adding that their custody should be nullified.

"I have mentioned in the court that the chargesheet is already submitted in the court where it is mentioned that Vinay Pawar and Sarang Akolkar are two killers. Amit Digvekar and Rajesh Bangers have no connection to the murder of Narendra Dabholkar. Hence, their custody should be nullified," he said.

On the other hand, Andure's lawyer Dharam Raj said "The CBI is now claiming that Sharad Kasalkar and Sachin Andure shot and killed Dabholkar. On the other hand, they earlier claimed that Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar shot him. We have to believe that out of the four accused, two are innocents. They have been falsely implicated by the CBI."

Earlier in the week, the Mumbai sessions court had denied a grant remand of another accused, Sharad Kalaskar, who was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad in an explosives recovery case.

Dabholkar, who was the founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) was shot dead on August 20, 2013, by bike-borne assailants while he was returning to his home from a morning walk.