Cops: Assailants gave the revolver to Nagori after killing Dabholkar

PUNE: The crime branch of the city police told the court on Tuesday they suspected that soon after murdering rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, the assailants handed over the revolver they had used to arms dealer Manish Nagori. The same weapon was later seized by the Thane police from Nagori's aide Vikas Khandelwal on August 20, the day when Dabholkar was shot dead in Pune.
Seeking a seven-day extension of their custody, assistant commissioner of police (crime) Rajendra Bhamare said, they were investigating how the weapon reached Mumbra and further custodial interrogation of Nagori and Khandelwal was essential to identify the assailants.
He further said that Nagori and Khandelwal, who were produced before the court with their faces covered, were not cooperating with the police, and not giving details of when and where the conspiracy meeting to kill Dabholkar was held, and who their other associates were.
Magistrate A B Shaikh extended the police custody remand of the duo till February 4.
Assistant public prosecutor M G Poul submitted before the court that the custodial interrogation of the suspects was essential because Khandelwal, during questioning, had told the police that Nagori had handed over him the revolver which was later seized by the anti-extortion cell of the Thane police in an exortion case registered by the Mumbra police on August 18 last year.
Poul argued that investigations had confirmed the role of the suspects in the conspiracy meeting, but they were giving vague and misleading replies to the investigating officer when they were asked about it.
He sought time to seize the black-colour motorcycle the suspects used before and after the murder. Besides, the suspects are criminals on police record at Ichalkaranji in Kolhapur and the crime they committed was grave, the prosecutor said.
Defence counsel Biju Aloor, representing Nagori and Khandelwal, told the court the duo played no role in Dabholkar's murder and so the question of them participating in the alleged conspiracy meeting did not arise. Aloor submitted that the CCTV footage seized by the police did not show the suspects at the crime scene before and after Dabholkar was shot dead. So, the question of seizing the bike from their possession was ruled out.
He claimed the suspects were not once interrogated since their arrest on January 20, till the expiry of their police custody remand on Monday. He complained that the police had allowed other agencies to interrogate Nagori and Khandelwal, which was illegal as no permission from the court was sought in this regard.
He contended that there was no progress in the investigations and pleaded the suspects be sent to magisterial custody. The suspects were arrested due to pressure from the state home department and Dabholkar's family had also expressed dissatisfaction over the tardy investigations in the murder case, he added.
On hearing both sides, the court observed, "Considering the progress of investigations in the case diary and remand report, the physical presence of the accused with the police is justified."
The court directed Bhamare to follow Supreme Court guidelines while interrogating the duo.
'Made allegations against ATS in an emotional state'
Arms dealer Manish Nagori on Tuesday told the court that he had made allegations against the state anti terrorism squad (ATS) in an emotional state of mind.
Magistrate A B Shaikh advised Nagori that the complaint against the ATS, if any, should be made to the proper court and not to him. Nagori agreed with the court.
Nagori and his aide Vikas Khandelwal did not complain of any ill-treatment by the police either.
On January 20, Nagori had said that the police had had made him a scapegoat in Narendra Dabholkar's murder case because of pressure from the state home minister R R Patil. They had alleged that the ATS had illegally subjected them to lie detector, polygraph and narco analysis tests without seeking their consent.
The duo's lawyer Biju Aloor had made a statement in the open court that ATS chief Rakesh Maria had allegedly offered Rs 25 lakh to the duo to admit their involvement in the murder. ATS officials had denied the allegations as false and baseless.