Two individuals have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court for UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) cases in Pune for the murder of rationalist and anti-superstition activist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar. Dabholkar was fatally shot while on a morning walk on Omkareshwar Bridge in Pune on August 20, 2013. The shooters, Sharad Kalaskar and Sachin Andure, were found guilty and convicted in the case. However, three other suspects—Virendrasinh Tawade, Sanjiv Punalekar, and Vikram Bhave—have been acquitted due to the prosecution’s inability to prove the charges against them.
According to the prosecution, Tawade was considered one of the masterminds behind the murder. The trial witnessed examination of 20 witnesses by the prosecution and two witnesses by the defence. The accused were reportedly opposed to Dabholkar’s campaign against superstition, as highlighted in the prosecution’s final arguments.
Sanatan Sanstha, an organization linked to Tawade and some other accused, was purportedly against the activities of Dabholkar’s organization, the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (Committee for Eradication of Superstition, Maharashtra), according to the prosecution’s claims.
Dabholkar’s assassination was followed by similar incidents targeting other rationalists and activists over the next four years. These included the murders of communist leader Govind Pansare in Kolhapur in February 2015, Kannada scholar and writer M M Kalburgi in Dharwad in August 2015, and journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru in September 2017.
