A special court for UAPA cases in Maharashtra’s Pune on Friday convicted and sentenced two men to life imprisonment and acquitted three, including key accused Virendrasinh Tawde, in the murder of well-known rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar.

Back on August 20, 2013, Dabholkar, a 67-year-old anti-superstition crusader, who headed the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead in Pune allegedly by the members of a fringe group during a morning walk.

About the court verdict on Dabholkar's murder

According to Additional Sessions Judge (Special Court) P P Jadhav, the prosecution had proved the charges of murder and conspiracy against Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar and they have been awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) earlier mentioned that Andure and Kalaskar had shot Dabholkar.

The court acquitted accused ENT surgeon Tawde, Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave for want of evidence.

The prosecution examined 20 witnesses while the defence examined two witnesses during the trial. The accused were opposed to Dabholkar's crusade against superstition, it had stated in its final arguments.

Investigation on Dabholkar's murder

Initially, Pune police probed the case before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over in 2014 following a Bombay High Court order.

In June 2016, CBI took Dr Virendrasinh Tawade, an ENT surgeon linked to the Hindu right-wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha, into custody. Earlier, Tawade was considered one of the masterminds of the murder.

The right-wing outfit, Sanatan Sanstha, to which Tawade and some of the other accused were linked, reportedly was opposed to the work carried out by Dabholkar's organisation, the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (committee for eradication of superstition, Maharashtra).