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A Pune court on Friday delivered the verdict in the high-profile murder case of activist Narendra Dabholkar, who was assassinated in 2013. The court found two accused, Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, guilty of the murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
The court, however, acquitted three other accused, including the key accused Virendrasinh Tawde, due to lack of sufficient evidence. Tawde is linked to the right-wing organization Sanatan Sanstha.
The prosecution had alleged that Tawde was one of the masterminds of the murder, but the court did not find enough evidence to support this claim. The murder of Narendra Dabholkar sparked a series of targeted killings of rationalists in India, including Govind Pansare, MM Kalburgi, and Gauri Lankesh.
The murder case was initially probed by the Pune police, but was later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2014. The CBI arrested Tawde in 2016.
The verdict in the Dabholkar murder case has been met with mixed reactions. While some have welcomed the conviction of the two accused, others have expressed disappointment over the acquittal of Tawde.
Source: Activist Narendra Dabholkar murder case: 2 get life imprisonment, 3 acquitted