Key witness alleges city police were negligent

Kolhapur: The police officials named by the CBI's key witness in his statement either claim that they do not specifically recall having met him or say that they cannot comment since the matter is before the court.
The witness has alleged that gross negligence by the Kolhapur police resulted in the murders of anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar and rationalist Govind Pansare.He said that he tried to alert the police several times, but in vain. Finally, with the help of some friends, he managed to contact former inspector general of Maharashtra S M Mushrif in January 2016, who helped him reach out to the CBI.
Mushrif confirmed that the witness had approached him. "Sometime in January end, this person came to me. After listening to his account, I introduced him to the CBI officials. The investigations in the Dabholkar case hastened from the first week of February," he said.
The witness, a resident of Kolhapur, submitted his statement under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code before the CBI court last week.
On Thursday, the witness told TOI about the conversations he had had with arrested Sanatan Sanstha member Virendrasinh Tawade from April to June 2013, most of which related to the latter pursuing him to manufacture revolvers and pistols. The witness, whose identity is being withheld for security reasons, was a long-time member of right-wing organizations. He stopped his association with these organizations after confrontations with some of their members.
The witness has named two police officers, two inspectors and two constables with whom he had shared information about Tawade. He claims to have alerted the policemen first in May 2013, then after Dabholkar's murder and finally after Pansare's murder, about the activities of Tawade and some of his colleagues. However, the police ignored his statements and did virtually nothing, he alleged.
The witness said he had told local police constable Vijay Patil in May 2013 that an unknown person had approached him, on behalf of Tawade, with revolvers and pistols. Dabholkar was gunned down on August 20 the same year.
Speaking about his association with Tawade, the witness said, "We know each other as we worked with the same organizations. However, we did not meet after 2008. Suddenly, one day in April 2013, Tawade came to my shop to inquire about my health. I had suffered a heart attack in 2012. He told me, 'You have got a new life, which shall be devoted to the work of the Hindu religion'. I said, 'I can't do anything now as I am not associated with the organization.' He was persistent and said, 'You can work from where you are.' When I asked what he expected from me, he told me that he wanted me to duplicate a particular type of revolver. I asked him to show me the weapon first."
The witness said Tawade also asked him to arrange for two young men. "He said he could pay each young man Rs 10 lakh and take responsibility of their families. I said, 'Let's see.' Around 15 days later, he called me from a public telephone at 5.30pm and asked me to come to Shahupuri railway gate. There, he pointed to an unknown person who was standing near a toy shop. Tawade said he would come to me with the 'vastu' (revolvers)," he said.
"Tawade called me 8-10 days later and said the same person who I had met at Shahupuri would come to my shop with the 'vastu', so that I could duplicate the same. The man soon came and showed me a revolver and a pistol from his bag. I told him it would take me time to study the weapons and asked him to come after a few days. I also told him that I would arrange a private room to dismantle the weapon," the witness said.
Tawade again called the witness some 12 days later and told him that a man would come to his shop with the 'vastu'. "For the first time, I got scared and contacted constable Vijay Patil. It was mid-May 2013. I told Patil to go to my shop and search a person standing there with a 'shabnam' bag as he was carrying weapons. When he hesitated, I told him I could call him again if he wanted. But he did not respond. When the man came to my shop, I pretended I could not arrange the room and asked him to come later," the witness said.
The witness said the man who came to his shop was Sarang Akolkar. "I identified him from photographs shown to me by the CBI officials. I could easily recognise him as I had seen him thrice. The police told me his name. He never returned to my shop," he said.
Some 10 days after this, Tawade called the witness and lamented that he had failed to make the 'vastu'. "Even as I was telling him my problems, he requested me to arrange accommodation at my residence for two people. He said the two were coming to 'search' for a few people and find out where they live, work and shop, and whether they went for morning walks. I responded affirmatively. Six days later, Tawade called to say the two men would come to my shop the same day. The two were young fellows wearing caps and carrying sacks. I pretended to call my friend on my cellphone and then told the men that the accommodation could not be arranged," the witness said.
The witness said Tawade called him again after 5-6 days. "This time, he told me he required some 'chocolates'. When he found me confused, he explained that 'chocolates' meant bullets. He called me at least 12-15 times over the next 15 days for the bullets. I stopped taking his calls. One day, when I was going to Goa, he again called for the bullets and said he had arranged for the 'vastu'. I told him I was off to Goa and it was not possible for me to assist him," the witness said, adding that this was his last communication with Tawade.
When the witness learnt of Dabholkar's murder in August 2013, he said he again contacted Vijay Patil and asked him to introduce him to some senior officer as he wanted share the information about Tawade. Within a month, the witness was asked to narrate his story to police inspector Shrikant Mohite and officials of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). The ATS officers called the witness to Karad to hear him out.
"But it was a literal full stop after that. When Pansare was shot at on February 16, 2015, I again called Patil. The next day, he came to me with his colleague, Sunil Jawahire, and they took me to police inspector Amrut Deshmukh. Deshmukh asked me to meet additional superintendent of police Ankit Goyal. I met Goyal near Pansare's house. Goyal questioned me and asked how I was involved in making revolvers. I told him I had not made any," the witness said.
Goyal was later transferred to Wardha. S Chaitanya, who took over from him, met the witness at Alankar hall in Kolhapur in early September 2015. The witness said that after this meeting, CBI officers approached him on February 12, 2016. "I told them the same sequence and then Tawade was arrested," he added.