Dabholkar murder probe: CBI conducts raids in Pune, Raigad

Mumbai: Intensifying its investigations into the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday raided the premises of two suspected right-wing activists based in Pune and Panvel in Raigad, an official said. During the raids, the CBI said it had recovered certain documents, mobile numbers, emails, and other materials which are being scrutinized. [caption id=“attachment_2764308” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] The action follows the case registered by the CBI on 9 May, 2014 into the sensational Dabholkar killing on 20 August, 2013, following a Bombay High Court order in a PIL. A medico by profession, rationalist Dabholkar, 68, was gunned down by two unidentified motor-cycle borne assailants around 7.20 a.m. near his house when he was out on a morning constitutional, shocking the nation. The case, which was first probed by the Deccan Police Station, Pune, was later taken over by the CBI. Nearly three years after the brazen daylight murder in full public view, the investigators have yet to ascertain the exact motives behind Dabholkar’s murder or identify and zero in on the killers, though some right-wing groups and activists are under a scanner. Dabholkar’s campaign of several decades finally bore fruit when Maharashtra became the first state in the country to enact a full-fledged law against black magic and other superstitious practices, albeit after his death.