CBI gets custody of Kalaskar till September 10

PUNE: Sharad Bhausaheb Kalaskar, the second person identified as the “shooter” by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Narendra Dabholkar murder case, is trained in weapon shooting and bomb-making, CBI told Pune court on Tuesday.

Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) SMA Sayyed remanded Kalaskar, who is also accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case, to CBI custody till September 10. “The accused is an expert in weapon handling. He also has expertise in bomb and shell making,” said CBI counsel Vijaykumar Dhakane to the court while seeking Kalaskar’s police custody. Kalaskar was arrested in the Nalasopara raid by the anti terrorism squad (ATS) and was remanded to ATS police custody till August 30 after which CBI had sought his custody. However, a court in Mumbai extended his ATS custody till September 3.

Kalaskar, like Sachin Andure, who has been identified as a shooter in the case, was a part of a conspiracy hatched by Dr Virendrasinh Tawade, a ear-nosethroat specialist, to kill Dabholkar. Tawade is currently lodged in Yerwada central jail in connection with Dabholkar’s murder. However, in a chargesheet filed by CBI in September 2016 against Dr Tawade, two men identified as Sarang and Vinay Pawar were named as shooters.

The CBI submitted that it is necessary to take Kalaskar in custody in order to interrogate him along with Rajesh Bangera and Amit Digvekar who were accused of killing Lankesh.

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