The CBI has announced a cash reward of Rs five lakh for giving credible information on each of the two absconding accused, Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar, in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
The reward has been announced by the probe agency as the duo could not be tracked, CBI sources said today.
"We have announced cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for giving credible information on each of the two," a CBI spokesperson told PTI over phone.
Both Akolkar (35) and Pawar (37) are members of the Sanatan Sanstha.
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.
According to the CBI official, Akolkar is allegedly a key conspirator in the murder of Dabholkar, while Pawar is alleged to be the shooter.
While announcing the reward, the CBI also released the photos of both the accused and assured that the informant's name will be kept secret.
Akolkar, who hails from Pune, is an electronics engineer. He has been on the run ever since his name cropped up during the probe of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Goa blast case. The NIA had secured an Interpol Red Corner Notice against him in 2012 but the security agencies are yet to track him down.
Pawar, a resident of Miraj in Sangli district of western Maharashtra, also has been untraceable for the last seven years.
"Akolkar and Pawar's names cropped up during the interrogation of Sanatan Sanstha's arrested activist Virendra Tawde last year. Tawde, whose arrest was the first in the Dabholkar murder case, was charged with conspiracy and murder of the rationalist," the CBI official said.
In its charge sheet filed on September 7 last year, the CBI had claimed to have pieced together links of Tawde with the Sanstha, Pawar and Akolkar.
The crucial piece of evidence that the CBI claims to have are e-mails of Tawde, besides testimony of some key persons, whose help was sought in the murder, they said.
The Bombay High Court had transferred the probe to the CBI on May 9, 2014 on the plea of former journalist Ketan Tirodkar, who had claimed that there was no headway in the probe by the local police.
Akolkar and Pawar are also under scanner in the murder of rationalist Govind Pansare murder, which had taken place in February 2015 in Kolhapur.
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