ACCUSED VIKRAM BHAVE GETS BAIL IN DABHOLKAR MURDER CASE

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday granted bail to Vikram Bhave, an accused in the case of killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in 2013, saying there are “not enough reasonable grounds” to conclude that the allegations against him are prima facie true.

Bhave, who was arrested in May 25, 2019, was accused of helping two other accused Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar - who allegedly shot Dabholkar on August 20, 2013 in Pune, with a recce of the spot and escape route after the crime.

The CBI is conducting a probe into the case.

A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale in its order noted that there were discrepancies in the prosecution’s evidence. “The material on which much emphasis has been placed by the CBI to link the appellant (Bhave) with the incident in question, does not appear to indicate that the accusation levelled against the appellant can be said to be prima facie true,” the court said in its order.

While granting bail to Bhave, the court directed him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and two solvent sureties of the like amount.