Dabholkar murder: Tawde to be produced in court today

Virendra Tawde, a member of the Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS), who was arrested yesterday for his alleged role in the murder of noted Pune-based rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in 2013, would be produced before the sessions court in Pune on Saturday.

The arrest came nine days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at the residence of Tawde, who works as a medical officer for the Sanstha, and questioned him at the outfit's ashram in Panvel.

Tawde's arrest was the first by the central agency since it took over the probe in May 2014 on the directions of the Bombay High Court, following a PIL alleged that pro-Hindutva activists were involved in the killing.

Dabholkar was shot dead reportedly by two unidentified people near Balgandharva auditorium in Pune when he was out for a morning walk on August 20, 2013. The assailants fled on a two-wheeler.

The high court had transferred the probe to the CBI on May 9, 2014, after a PIL filed by former journalist Ketan Tirodkar, saying there was no headway even several months after the killing of Dabholkar.