Amid demand from political parties to ban Sanatan Sanstha, Marathe rejected possibility of such ban and said that even if it happens they have strong force of pracharak, who will continue doing work of protecting the Hindu Rashtra.
Days after Maharashtra police arrested Sameer Gaikwad in connection with the murder of rationalist Govind Pansare, Goa-based Hindu outfit Sanatan Sanstha's managing trustee, Virendra Marathe has claimed that Sameer is innocent and the organisation has not indulged in any criminal activity.
Amid demand from political parties to ban Sanatan Sanstha, Marathe rejected possibility of such ban and said that even if it happens they have strong force of pracharak, who will continue doing work of protecting the Hindu Rashtra.
In an interview to a leading tabloid, Marathe Said, "Sanatan is not behind Dabholkar and Pansare's murders. Sameer is innocent, and we know it."
He further added, "Certain forces want to implicate us in wrong doings, and we are fighting them. No investigation agency has ever proved that the Sanstha has indulged in criminal activity, and Sameer has no criminal record either. Let the law take its course. We will wait for the judiciary to hold him guilty, and then verify the police evidence against him."
Marathe accused media of portraying that Sameer killed Pansare at the Sanstha's behest, and claimed that he has never met Sameer's family.
Talking about why Sanstha is being suspected in killings of rationalists, he said, "We, as Hindus, wanted to eliminate the caste system but Pansare wanted to propagate it. Pansare has a strong connection with the Sambhaji Brigade, which speaks ill of Brahmins. Why we should tolerate it? We will continue protesting with our sadhana."
Meanwhile, National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday reached Kolhapur, where police are interrogating Sameer Gaikwad. NIA had probed the involvement of Sanatan Sanstha members in the Madgaon bomb-blast case in Goa in 2009.
Pansare, 82, and his wife, Uma, were shot at by two motorcycle-borne youths on February 16, 2015, near their home in Kolhapur. Pansare died four days later at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. His wife survived the attack, but suffered injuries that have crippled her.
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