Vikhe Patil meets slain rationalist Pansare's kin

Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil today met the family members of slain rationalist Govind Pansare here and requested them to mount pressure on the government to ban "extremist outfits, like the Sanatan Sanstha".

Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Vikhe Patil also accused the state government of backing those opposed to the rationalist movement.

Pansare was shot at on February 16, 2015 here and succumbed to his injuries on four days later. Members of the Sanatan Sanstha were questioned in connection with the killing.

"I requested them (Pansare's kin) that modern thinkers like them should come together to exert pressure on the government to ban extremist outfits like the Sanatan Sanstha, which provoke young people and give them guns and bombs," Vikhe Patil told reporters after meeting CPI leader Pansare's wife Uma and daughter-in-law Megha.

Referring to the arrest of an individual in connection with the murder of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, the Congress leader alleged that the Maharashtra police took action only after their Karnataka counterpart acted in connection with the case.

"The chief minister (Devendra Fadnavis) tweets on every small issue, but he did not tweet anything about the arrest in connection with Dabholkar's murder...This shows that the government backs the ideology that attacks rationalists," Vikhe Patil said.

Dabholkar was gunned down by two motorcycle-borne persons on August 20, 2013 near Omkareshwar temple in Pune when he was going for a morning walk.