Key accused Andure absent from work on day Dabholkar shot dead

Pune: One of the alleged shooters involved in the murder of Narendra Dabholkar in 2013, Sachin Andure was absent at his workplace on the day the Pune-based rationalist was killed, shows to the attendance register of the garment store in Aurangabad where he was working, according to an investigator with direct knowledge of the matter.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), probing the case, has recovered the attendance register, which shows that Andure had taken leave on August 20, 2013.

Also, a day before Dabholkar’s murder -- August 19, 2013 -- the 26-year-old Andure did not come to work as it was his weekly off as per the records, the investigator cited above said.

Andure’s employer Dilipkumar Saboo said, “I don’t exactly remember for what reason Andure was on leave that day, but the attendance book shows he was absent. Once we found the book, we gave it

CBI HAS RECOVERED THE ATTENDANCE REGISTER FROM ANDURE’S WORKPLACE IN AURANGABAD, WHICH SHOWS HE WAS ON LEAVE ON AUGUST 20

to CBI.”

Saboo owns the garment shop in Nirala bazaar, Aurangabad, where Andure used to work for the past 10 years.

According to records, which were seen by HT, Andure was also on leave on August 8, 9 and 25, 2013.

The attendance book can be “crucial evidence” in court against Andure, said a second CBI official who asked not to be named.

When contacted, CBI counsel Vijaykumar Dhakane said he was not authorised to speak to the media.

CBI has accused Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, another suspect in the case, of being the two assailants who shot Dabholkar dead. The agency contends that the two came to Pune on a motorcycle and fired two bullets each at Dabholkar near Omkareshwar bridge, Shaniwar peth, while he was returning home from his morning walk. Dabholkar had died on the spot.

Andure’s wife Sheetal and elder brother Pravin have claimed that the agency has falsely implicated him in the case.

“The CBI was under pressure from the high court, as the court had given the investigators a deadline. Under that pressure, they implicated my husband,” alleged Sheetal.

The CBI has arrested Amit Digvekar and Rajesh Bangera, besides Andure, in the Dabholkar case. They are also suspects in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017.

The federal agency is also probing if a pistol recovered from Andure’s friend in Aurangabad has links to Lankesh and Dabholkar cases.

The pistol has been sent for ballistic examination.