Two years on, there is yet to be a breakthrough in the probe into the death of scholar M.M. Kalburgi.
It is believed that one group of men, allegedly linked to the Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha, is behind the murders of rationalists Narendra Dhabolkar, Govind Pansare and Prof. Kalburgi. The assumption was made by ballistic matches of weapons used in the three murders, which the CBI was sceptical about. Efforts to get a forensic test done on cartridges by the Scotland Yard have also failed.
The CBI, which is looking into Dr. Dhabolkar’s murder, arrested a Veerendra Tawade from Pune in 2016 and announced a reward of ₹5 lakh in March 2017 for information on his associates Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar. The duo, along with another Sanatan activist Rudra Patil, accused in the 2009 Goa blast case, are absconding. The trail has gone cold since.
However, CID sleuths investigating the Kalburgi murder seem to be exploring other angles as well. “We are trying to look at the probe so far with fresh eyes. There seems to be no hard, irrefutable evidence to close the investigation. Despite our best efforts, it is unfortunate that the probe has not achieved any conclusive results,” a senior CID official said.