Dabholkar murdered: 2013; Pansare in 2015; Cases cracked: 2018

MUMBAI: Two sensational murders –– that of Narendra Dabholkar in 2013 and Govind Pansare in 2015 –– which the Maharashtra police failed to crack, is now seeing a breakthrough through the involvement of the Karnataka police. Ironically, it was the police sleuths from the neighbouring state, who were on the Gauri Lankesh murder trail on Maharashtra soil, that led to crucial tip-offs leading to some breakthrough in the Dabholkar/Pansare cases as well.

On 20 August, 2013, rationalist Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead during his morning walk in Pune.

The Pune police launched a search for his assailants for close to two years but made no breakthrough.


Following this, in May 2014, the case was handed over to the CBI.

Two years later, on February 16, 2015, Communist Party of India leader Govind Pansare was also shot at. He died four days later. The Maharashtra Police, which is investigating the Pansare murder case, and the CBI which is pursuing the Dabholkar murder case, had not made any breakthroughs until August this year when the Karnataka police tipped off the ATS (anti-terrorism squad) after cracking the Gauri Lankesh murder case.

On August 9, the Maharashtra ATS arrested Vaibhav Raut, a man alleged to be affiliated to the Sanathan Sanstha –– a right wing radical outfit whose members were always under suspicion –– for the murders of both Dabholkar and Pansare. Raut's arrest came after a tip off from the Karnataka SIT to the Maharashtra police. Raut’s arrest led not only to the recovery of several homemade bombs, but also to the arrests of Sharad Kalaskar and Sudhwana Gondhalekar.