Another ex-CBI official arrested in RTI activist murder

New Delhi: The questioning of a former Pune police officer B R Andhalkar has given CBI “vital clues” about conspiracy relating to the murder of RTI activist Satish Shetty six years ago, resulting in the arrest of another former Crime branch official Namdev Sukhdev Kauthale. Kauthale, then Assistant Police Inspector with Crime Branch, was arrested late last night by CBI, agency sources said. [caption id=“attachment_2723520” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Babusaheb Adhalkar - Twitter @Mumbaikhabar9[/caption] It is suspected both ex-crime branch officers knew the conspiracy and had actively taken part in attempts to shield the main accused, they said. “It was alleged that then API was involved in the initial investigation of the case. He had allegedly conspired with the perpetrators of crime and in furtherance of that he created false evidence and fake eye-witnesses implicating five other accused persons to shield the real conspirators and killers,” CBI Spokesperson said here. The agency is likely to make some more arrests soon in the case, the sources said. Kauthale has been sent to CBI custody till 16 April by the competent court on Monday. Kauthale was taken into custody after his alleged role surfaced during the questioning of Andhalkar, the then police inspector also with local crime branch, who was arrested on 6 April for allegedly conspiring with others in the murder of Shetty on 13 January, 2010. CBI, which had initially closed the case, decided to reopen it after the agency recovered certain documents, indicative of possible missing evidence in the murder case, from a builder whose offices and residence were searched in January, 2015 in a separate case registered in November, 2014 against a builder. Shetty was murdered by unidentified assailants when he had stepped out of his house for morning walk at Talegaon Dabhade town in Pune district. The unidentified men had attacked him with swords. A year before he was killed, Shetty had reportedly lodged a complaint with Pune police’s crime branch about an alleged land scam involving IRB chairman Virendra Mhaiskar.