Four murdered Govind Pansare: Prosecutor tells court

Pune: Four men were involved in the February 2015 murder of CPI leader Govind Pansare in Kolhapur, the prosecutor told the court on Friday. The four visited the area a day before Pansare was killed for reconnaissance, prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar told the court. A Kolhapur court on Friday rejected bail application by Samir Gaikwad, one of the charge sheeted accused.

Two bike-borne gunmen had fired at Pansare, who succumbed to his bullet wounds while his wife was injured but survived only to get a paralysis attack later. During hearing, Nimbalkar opposed the bail plea saying that the other three accused in the case – Sarang Akolkar, Vinay Pawar and Rudra Patil – were already absconding. So, if Gaikwad was given bail, he might run away too. Nimbalkar also argued that there were proofs of Gaikwad’s involvement in Pansare’s murder. One of the witnesses had seen Gaikwad on the morning of the murder.

Meanwhile, defence Samir Patwardhan argued that Sanatan Sanstha members did not take the law into their own hands. Patwardhan said that Uma Pansare had identified only Akolkar and Pawar and hence, Gaikwad was not involved in the murder and should get bail.

After hearing the arguments from both sides, judge of the Kolhapur sessions court, L.D. Bile, announced that the court would decide about the bail on June 17.

Case timeline

• Govind Pansare was shot at by unknown assailants near his house in Kolhapur on February 16, 2015
• He succumbed to bullet injuries on February 20, 2015
• A special investigation team was constituted to probe the murder in August 2015
• Sameer Gaikwad, Sanatan Sanstha member, was arrested in September 2015, and a charge sheet filed against him in December 2015.
• Virendra Tawade, another accused and member of the Sanatan Sanstha, was arrested in June 2016.