Prithviraj Chavan Terms Sanatan Sanstha A ‘Dangerous’ Outfit, Demands Ban

CBI has arrested Hindu Janajagruti Samiti member Virendra Singh Tawde in connection with the murder of noted rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune in 2013, the first in the case by the agency.

The witness in a statement recorded under section 164 has said that Tawade had given offensive speeches against Dr Dabholkar in a public programme in Kolhapur in 2004 and had been vocal against him after that as well. Further, a black motorcycle was used in both Dabholkar and (Govind) Pansare murders.

Welcoming the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI’s) move in arresting Hindu Janajagruti Samiti member Virendrasing Tawde, Hamid Dabholkar, the son of murdered rationalist and prominent anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar, said on Saturday that the investigation is now moving in the right direction, and added that the CBI should go to the root of the murder and dig up the nexus between right-wing organisations and the killers. Both are now out on bail. It is the first arrest in the case. Police have called him a co-conspirator in the case. CBI authorities have further claimed several e-mail exchanges between the two, which irrefutably established their close association.

A few days back, the CBI raided Tawade’s house in Panvel and Sanatan Sanstha’s ashram nearby. The Sanstha termed Tawde’s arrest a “pre-planned conspiracy to defame the spiritual organisation at the behest of pseudo-secularists”.

They said the two were investigated after the agency found some “cyber forensic evidence” about their alleged role in the murder case of Dabholkar.

Sanatan Sanstha was set up in the 1990s by Dr Jayant Athavale to “bring Hindus together” after the demolition of the Babri Masjid. However, it has slowly opened its branches across the country by promoting hard-line Hindu ideology. Reports said Sanatan Sanstha member and prime suspect Virendra Tawde was nabbed in Navi Mumbai. In 2008, six persons owing allegiance to Sanatan Sanstha were arrested for planting bombs in auditoriums at Thane and Vashi and a movie theatre in Panvel.