Dabholkar murder case: ATS chief offered Nagori, aide Rs 25 lakh, alleges defence counsel

PUNE: The defence counsel in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case created a sensation in a Pune court on Tuesday when he charged state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) chief Rakesh Maria with offering arms dealer Manish Nagori and his aide Vikas Khandelwal Rs 25 lakh to admit their involvement in the murder of the anti-superstition crusader.
The counsel, Biju Aloor, said in the open court, which was packed with police officials, lawyers, the media and the public, that the monetary offer was made when Nagori and Khandelwal were in the custody of the ATS for 28 days in November last year.
Nagori and Khandelwal also alleged before the magistrate, A B Shaikh, that the crime branch of the Pune police has made them a scapegoat in the Dabholkar case due to pressure from home minister R R Patil. They claimed that the ATS had illegally subjected them to lie detector, polygraph and narco analysis tests as neither their consent nor that of the court had been sought.
While the police sought the suspects’ custody for 14 days, the court remanded them till January 28.
When contacted by TOI, Maria refused comment. However, ATS officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “The defence and suspects are levying false and baseless allegations against our senior. Nagori had suffered a huge financial setback after the ATS busted his illegal firearms racket. The sale of firearms has now stopped in Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Solapur and Pune.”
The ATS officials said 20 revolvers, 46 rounds and three magazines were seized from Nagori. “We have registered four cases against him and nine others, including two at Kalachowkie, one at Vikhroli and another in Pune,” they said.
Nagori (24) and Khandelwal (22) have denied their involvement in Dabholkar’s murder, saying they were in the custody of various police agencies since August 20, 2013, the day Dabholkar was shot dead in Pune.
Earlier, the duo was produced in court by assistant commissioner of police (crime) Rajendra Bhamare with their faces covered. However, before the hearing could begin, Aloor asked why their faces had been covered when this had not been done when they were produced earlier in connection with two murder cases in Pune.
Aloor alleged that the police had not informed the suspects and their family members about their arrest in the Dabholkar case and had also not allowed them to contact a lawyer for seeking legal assistance as per the Supreme Court guidelines.
Bhamare did not react to Aloor’s allegations but told the court that the custodial interrogation of the suspects was essential to trace the source of the weapons and to unearth the alleged conspiracy behind the murder. He also sought time to seize the motorcycle used by the assailants in the crime.
Pressing for police custody of the suspects, assistant public prosecutor Mahadev Poul said the ballistic expert has given his opinion that the bullets fired from one of the 7.65 mm revolvers seized from Khandelwal were the same ones that killed Dabholkar. The revolver was supplied by Nagori, he said. He pleaded for sufficient time to interrogate the suspects to determine their role in the conspiracy and to identity and arrest their other accomplices.
However, Aloor contended that though Nagori and Khandelwal had been questioned in the Dabholkar case for around 65 days since their arrest on August 20, their interrogation revealed nothing. He asked why it had taken the police five months to arrest the duo.
Aloor said Nagori and Khandelwal were not present at the time of the crime and that their role in the alleged conspiracy has not been explained in the remand report. He accused the police of falsely implicating the duo because of political pressure from home minister R R Patil and because Dabholkar’s family had expressed its disappointment over the tardy probe. He appealed to the court to direct the police to file an affidavit that the suspects were involved in the conspiracy. This, he said, could help in the prosecution of the investigating officer if no evidence was found against Nagori and Khandelwal.
After hearing both sides, the court observed, “From the scrutiny of the investigating papers, it appears that the case is also based on circumstantial evidence. There is a ballistic expert report that the weapon used in the crime shows the nexus of the accused. Police papers show that the allegations against the accused are well-founded.”
The court said, “Considering the nature and seriousness of the offence, reasonable opportunity is required to be given to the investigating agency for in-depth and thorough investigations. Therefore, physical custody of the accused with the police is justified.”
Meanwhile, ATS officials said Nagori and Khandelwal did not make any complaint against them before the Pune court when they were arrested in the two murder cases by the Pune police and later when they were arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act by the Kolhapur police.
The ATS officials said, “Nagori is levying false and baseless allegations to prevent recovery of some more weapons from him. After Dabholkar was shot dead, the ATS identified Nagori as a weapons dealer in Kolhapur and were on the lookout for him. However, before we could lay our hands on him, he was arrested by the Thane police and three firearms were seized from him.”
The officials said that before his arrest, Nagori was selling revolvers to customers for anything between Rs 40,000 and Rs 80,000. “The ballistic expert has examined 23 weapons, including three seized by the Thane police and 20 by the ATS. We have also written to the Pune police to consider the ballistic expert’s opinion while investigating the case,” they said.
Nagori had made similar allegations against the Kolhapur police, the officials said. “We have never said that he killed Dabholkar. We did not force him to make any confessional statement. Why should we offer him money? He has not been in our custody since November 20. He did not say anything for the last two months but has now started making false and baseless allegations against our senior,” they added.