The Central Bureau of Investigation’s search of a Pune residence associated with Sarang Akolkar, a suspect in the August 2013 Narendra Dabholkar murder has led to documents that indicate efforts to acquire technical know-how on countering surveillance of telephone conversations by enforcement authorities.
The documents recovered, including around 15 pages of a diary, pertain to issues such as telephone bugging, encryption of phones to protect data from non-users, and mobile jammers; said a source familiar with the probe.
Details have been found hand-written on pages with pencil and pen about a presentation on bugging (interception of telephonic conversations) apart from mobile jammers and encryption of phones. The implications of the findings are being ascertained. The notes in question have been found on the January 2009 pages of a diary found at a residence searched by CBI as part of the larger probe.
Only last month, the CBI submitted its case charge sheet in a Pune court. The charge sheet identified Akolkar at whose house the notes were allegedly found, along with his associate, both of whom are absconding. The charge sheet named Dr Virendra Tawade as an accused for his alleged role in the case. However, Dr Tawade denied allegations about his role in the case. Two motor-cycle borne young men shot dead Dabholkar on August 20, 2013, when he was out on his morning walk. The CBI, which took over the case from local police in May 2014, arrested Dr Tawade in June 2016.
