Pansare murder case: HC transfers probe from SIT to ATS

Allowing a plea filed by Pansare’s kin seeking transfer of the probe from the SIT, the court said the ATS would be assisted by a few officers of state CID, the agency that had been investigating the case till date, for continuity.

Pansare was shot at on February 16, 2015 near his house in Kolhapur. He died four days later.

On Monday, the Maharashtra government had told the high court that it had no objection in transferring the probe from SIT to ATS. However, the bench had asked the state government to respond as to whether some officers from ATS can be made part of the SIT instead of starting the probe into the killing from “point zero.”

A division bench of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere and Justice Sharmila Deshmukh passed an order in an application filed by Pansare’s daughter Smita and daughter-in-law Megha, wherein advocate Abhay Nevagi told the court that the state police was yet to make any breakthrough in the case even after seven years.

Nevagi had told the HC that there was a larger conspiracy in the murders of Pansare and other activists, including Dr Narendra Dabholkar, M M Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh, as all the cases are “linked.” He added that since Dabholkar case trial has commenced, the investigation cannot be transferred, but a probe into Pansare’s death can be moved to the ATS. Nevagi said that Lankesh and Kalburgi cases probed by Karnataka Police SIT will soon reach their logical conclusion.

Nevagi also said that ATS is an appropriate agency which can take the Pansare case to a logical end due to its role in the probe of the 2018 Nalasopara arms haul case in which it found that the same accused were involved in the murders of Pansare and the other three persons.

He added that there was no dedicated team of officers to probe the Pansare case as five IPS officers investigating the matter were changed during the course of the probe.

Nevagi told the bench that the masterminds behind the killing and the two shooters are still absconding. He added that as per the probe agency, nearly 40 more persons, including Pansare and Dabholkar’s family members, activist Medha Patkar and other intellectuals, authors and politicians were on the hit-list and therefore, the masterminds should be nabbed and the case be taken to logical conclusion.

Submitting the recent probe progress report, senior advocate Ashok Mundargi, a special counsel for state, had said that Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar were the only two accused specifically named in the Pansare case as shooters, adding they were not named as accused in other cases.

Mundargi had further responded, “It is also our case that there is some common thread running in all these cases. We are not opposing the prayer to transfer the probe. We have been ready for trial since last one year…The difficulty is that the two shooters are absconding. Concerted efforts are going on and all investigating agencies, including CBI, NIA and police of different states are after them but they have not been found.”

Mundargi had also submitted that if the victim’s relatives are not satisfied with the probe, the state has “no objection” to transfer the probe to ATS, but the new agency will need some time to understand the case.

“We are agreeable to either of the arrangements. ATS can be appointed and for continuation, some officers of CID can be a part of it; or the SIT can continue the probe and some ATS officers can be included. But in my opinion it will be better if ATS is handed over the probe,” Mundargi submitted, which the court accepted.

Responding to the court’s query as to whether the same ATS officers who probed Nalasopara case can be added to Pansare death case probe, Mundargi said that the officials were no longer part of ATS and were scattered across other divisions of the police.

The court said that it will transfer the probe to ATS and would pass a detailed order in due course.