Defence lawyer, aide held in Narendra Dabholkar murder case

A lawyer, representing some of the accused in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case, has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday, an official said.

Advocate Sanjeev Punalekar and a Sanatan Sanstha member identified as Vikram Bhave were held from Mumbai and will be produced in a Pune court on Sunday, the CBI official said.

He added that the preliminary probe had revealed that Punalekar was known to one of Dabholkar's shooters, Sharad Kalaskar.

The Pune-based rationalist was shot dead while he was on a morning walk on the Onkareshwar Bridge in Pune on August 20, 2013.

Punalekar has been the counsel for Sanatan Sanstha, a right wing organisation, and has also defended newly-minted MP from Bhopal, Pragya Thakur. He is also the national secretary of an association of lawyers called Hindu Vidhidnya Parishad. He is the fourth arrest in the case.

Bhave was earlier arrested in connection with the blasts at Gadkari Rangayatan in Thane and Cineraj Theatre in Panvel in 2008. Punalekar had defended him in court.

According to sources in the police force, Punalekar was in touch with Kalaskar before the incident and allegedly helped in destruction of evidence — the pistol allegedly used in the murder of the rationalist.