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A Pune Court on Saturday extended till June 4 the CBI custody of Sanatan Sanstha’s lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar and his close aide Vikram Bhave in relation to the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar. The duo was earlier remanded to seven-day custody by the Court.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) pointed out to the Additional Sessions Judge AV Rotte that Punalekar was not cooperating in the investigation and Special Public Prosecutor Prakash Suryavanshi, for the agency,has stated that Punalekar has a role in the big chain of conspiracy. CBI seek for extension of custody analyse the data from the seizedtwo laptops and some mobile phones. Suryavanshi added that while Punalekar advised Kalaskar to destroy the weapons, Bhave helped the assailants find an escape route. CBI again seek for extension to investigate under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA), which provides 30 day remand of the accused, but, here only a 14 days was asked by the CBI.
Advocate Subhash Jha for Punalekar, argued that Punalekar is an Advocate and the conversation between him and Kalaskar is of the nature of a conversation between a lawyer and a client. The advice given by Punalekar thus is not illegal and is, in fact, a privileged communication as under the Indian Evidence Act.
Punalekar and Bhave were arrested by the CBI from Mumbai on May 25 and were produced before the Court in Pune on May 26 when they were remanded to CBI custody till June 1. The arrests were made by the agency on the basis of a statement of confession by Sharad Kalaskar who was identified by the CBI as a shooter in the Dabholkar murder case. Kalaskar had allegedly admitted to meeting Punalekar and Bhave in June 2018 when he was advised to destroy the weapons used in the murder.Dabholkar killed by2persons outside residence in 2013 during his morning walk. Both Punalekar and Bhave are reportedly associated with Sharad Kalaskar, one of the shooters suspected in the case, while other is Sachin ParaksraoAndure.
In May 2014, the Bombay High Court transferred the case from Pune Police to the CBI and is being monitored.
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