The Pune police is yet to make any headway in the murder case of Dr Narendra Dabholkar. The only clue they have is the possibility that the killers could be located in the districts of Satara, Sangli or Kolhapur. No lead has come out yet from questioning gun running gangs in the city and tracing the bike used in the crime.
The police believes that after the murder, the killers escaped to these districts, as it would be safer than staying in Pune where all police stations have been pressed into action.
“Dr Dabholkar’s anti-superstition activities were firmly based in these districts. Most of his new programmes, including campaigns against Jat Panchayats, support to inter-caste marriages and drug de-addiction centres, originated here. Thus, his strongest opponents logically have to hail from these places,” said an officer involved in the case.
The police, investigating the possibility of Hindu extremists being involved, is also sharing inputs with agencies including Intelligence Bureau and the state Anti-Terrorism Squad.
Officers, however, pointed out that Dr Dabholkar had personally never received any death threats except disruptions during some of his programmes.
“Had he been actually threatened, tracing the killers would have been easy,” an officer said.
Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan said that investigations had not yet led to any arrests though the police had got some clues. “There is progress in the investigation and the police has got certain clues, but they have not yet led to any arrests,” he said.