A special court in Pune convicted Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, sentencing them to life for the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, while acquitting three others.
A special court in Pune on Friday convicted two accused, Sachin Andure and Sarad Kalaskar, and sentenced them to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
The court also acquitted three others, Virendra Tawade, Advocate Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave, for lack of evidence.
Tawade had been alleged to be the main conspirator of the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The trial in the 2013 murder case commenced in 2021, while Pune Sessions judge, PP Jadhav, had reserved the judgment in the case last month.
Dabholkar, founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti was shot by two bike-borne assailants while on his morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013.
He had been running the Samiti for many years when he published various books and undertook workshops for the eradication of superstition.
After his murder in 2013, amidst much public outcry, the case was transferred from the Pune Police to the CBI by the Bombay High Court, on the petitions filed by Dabholkar’s daughter and son.
The petitions concerning the case were still being heard by the court.
Subsequently, five accused, Virendra Singh Tawade, Sachin Andure, Sharad Kalaskar, Vikram Bhave and advocate Sanjeev Punalekar were arrested in the case.
The five were charged with offences under Sections 302 with 120B or 34 for murder and criminal conspiracy and Section 16 (terrorist act) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and provisions of the Arms Act.
They were also charged under section 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), for tampering with evidence.
The charges in the case were framed by the Pune sessions court on September 15, 2021 against all five accused.
The court observed that a conspiracy to eliminate Dabholkar was hatched so as to create a terror in the mind of the people, so that no one should undertake the work of ‘Andhashradha Nirmulan Samiti’.