The Bombay High Court Wednesday granted bail to six accused in the 2015 gathering murder of rationalist and author Govind Pansare, deciding that time had come and gone for them, justifying the reason for the bail. The registrar of the court authorised bail pleas by Sachin Andure, Ganesh Miskin, Amit Degwekar, Amit Baddi, Bharat Kurane and Vasudev Suryavanshi, who have been jailed since they were arrested from 2018 to 2019.
The case was initially dealt with by the Kolhapur’s Rajarampuri police station. But the investigation was later handed over to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the Additional Director General of Police (CID), Maharashtra. In August 2022, the High Court referred the case to the Anti-Terrorism (Anti-Terrorism) Squad (ATS) for lack of progress in identifying the shooters.
Returning home from a morning walk, Govind Pansare, 82, was shot in Kolhapur on February 16, 2015; his wife, Uma Pansare, was present. The assailants on a motorcycle, who have not been officially identified, fired several rounds at them before fleeing. He succumbed to his injuries on February 20. His family had wanted a transfer of the case to the ATS because they were dissatisfied with the slow progress in the investigation.
At least 12 accused have been named, and police have arrested ten of them so far, with four supplementary charge sheets filed, according to the police. But two of the suspected shooters are at large. The Bombay High Court has decided that it will step back from directly monitoring the probe while the trial against the arrested accused continues.
Justice Kilor also said he would hear the bail plea of another accused, Virendrasinh Tawade, separately.
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