Dabholkar case: He is innocent, main shooter's brother claims

The brother of Sachin Prakasrao Andure, the alleged main shooter arrested in the case of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar's killing, today claimed that his brother was made a scapegoat and falsely implicated in the case.

Sachin, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here 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 Sachin was one of the two assailants who had shot at Dabholkar at the Omkareshwar Bridge here on August 20, 2013.

His brother, Pravin, who was present in court, claimed that Sachin was not a member of any political party or right-wing Hindutva group Sanatan Sanstha.

"My brother is a good-natured man living a humble life. He was never involved in any wrongdoing. He has been falsely implicated in this case and made a scapegoat. But we are sure that he will come out innocent," Pravin, who works at a petrol pump in Aurangabad district, told reporters.

He claimed that Sachin had a master's degree in commerce and was employed with a garment shop in Aurangabad.

Pravin said their family was poor and the siblings lived in a rented house, adding that their parents died in 2016.

"Had he (Sachin) been involved in such things, he would not have been poor," he said.

Pravin added that Sachin was married and had a six-month-old daughter.

Incidentally, Sameer Kulkarni, one of the accused in the Malegaon blast case who is currently out on bail, was present in court when the CBI produced Sachin before it.

Six persons were killed and nearly 100 injured when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded in Malegaon town of Nashik district on September 29, 2008.

Kulkarni, a printing press employee from Bhopal who was accused of having arranged the chemicals used in the blast, was granted bail by a sessions court in Mumbai on October 11 last year.