Activists Pawar, Pangarkar in judicial custody till Sep 21

A court here sent suspected right-wing activist Avinash Pawar and former Shiv Sena councillor Shrikant Pangarkar to judicial custody till September 21.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had arrested Pangarkar on August 19 and Pawar on August 24 and the duo were produced Thursday before Additional Sessions judge Vinod Padalkar after their police remand ended.

The court remanded them to judicial custody till September 21 after the ATS made no further arguments seeking their custody.

Earlier, the ATS had claimed that Pawar had carried out reconnaissance of houses of certain persons including slain rationalist Narendra Dabholkar's daughter Mukta, activist Shyam Manav and NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad.

Pangarkar, the ATS had told the court, was providing training for making arms in Jalna. His name was also found in a diary seized from an accused who is in the custody of the Karnataka police in connection with a high-profile murder case.

Besides, Pawar and Pangarkar, ATS had arrested three more persons- Vaibhav Raut, Sudhanwa Gondhalekar and Sharad Kalaskar - in connection with seizure of explosives, arms and ammunition from various places in the second week of August.

The accused were booked under relevant provisions of the Explosives Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

While Raut and Gondhalekar are currently in judicial remand, Kalaskar is in CBI custody in connection with his alleged role in the killing of Dabholkar.

The CBI has claimed that it was Kalaskar who opened fire first on Dabholkar.

The 67-year-old anti-superstition crusader was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne men while he was on a morning walk on the Onkareshwar Bridge in Pune on August 20, 2013.