No leads in Dabholkar, Pansare, Satish Shetty murders: Kin blame state of being complacent

Mumbai: Two months after the death of veteran CPI leader Govind Pansare, kin of the social activists killed in Maharashtra have accused the state government for being complacent in investigation lacking political will to nab the killers since there has not been much progress in the cases. “There is no progress in the investigation. The family members are not taken into confidence by the police. No information is shared with us about the investigation. There is complete lack of political will by the state government to nab the killers,” said Megha Pansare, daughter-in-law of the late Govind Pansare. [caption id=“attachment_2219386” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Govind Pansare. Ibnlive[/caption] She was speaking at a public meeting on ‘who is shielding the guilty’ organised by Hum Azaadiyon Ke Haq Mein, a collective of NGOs and individuals. Other participant in the meeting include Mukta Dabholkar, daughter of the slain anti-superstition activist Dr Narendra Dabholkar and Sandeep Shetty, brother of late RTI activist Satish Shetty. Pansare, 82, a CPI leader, and his wife, Uma, 67, were shot near their residence in Kolhapur while they were returning from a morning walk on 16 February. Pansare died four days later. While Dabholkar was also shot dead while he was out for a morning walk near the Omkareshwar bridge in Pune in August 2013, RTI activist Satish Shetty was murdered in Pune for exposing land grabbing in January 2010. Although the police remain clueless about who murdered Dabholkar, the CBI, has decided to reopen its investigations into the Shetty murder case. Megha further accused that the state government did not want to bring the investigation details in the public domain. “Days after we have filed an application in the Bombay High Court demanding a court monitored investigation by a special investigation team (SIT) in the case, the state government hurriedly announced that it has set up an SIT to avoid the court supervision of the probe. Our previous experience of cases like Dabholkar is not good. Also, we don’t get to know the status of investigation and the failure of the police authorities in nabbing the culprits. So, we want a court monitored SIT to probe the case which will bring the details of investigation in public domain,” she added and claimed that the focus of the investigation was not moving in the right direction. “Even if the investigating agencies interrogate thousands of people, it will be of no use if they do not focus properly. If it is not investigating the case as expected, it will not lead to any conclusion,” said Mukta Dabhokar adding that she will continue to fight for justice. Sandeep Shetty blamed the system saying that the corruption has prevented any progress in the investigation. “The system is always biased and they are inclined towards powerful people. It is not the CBI or the police that is not capable of investigating the case. It is their intention that is more important. They can find the culprits immediately if they decide,” said Sandeep.