Are Dabholkar, Pansare, Lankesh, Kalburgi murders linked, asks SC

New Delhi, August 18

The Supreme Court on Friday sought to know from the CBI if there was a “common thread” in the murders of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, CPI leader Govind Pansare, activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh and scholar MM Kalburgi.

Look into it

The accused who are facing a trial (in Dabholkar case), according to you, there is no common thread in those four murders? Right?… that is what we want to know. Please look into it.

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Supreme Court

Dabholkar was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants during his morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013. Pansare was murdered on February 20, 2015, while Lankesh was killed on September 5, 2017. Kalburgi was shot dead on August 30, 2015.

A Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked the question during hearing of a petition filed by Dabholkar’s daughter Mukta Dabholkar challenging the April 18 this year order of the Bombay High Court refusing to continue monitoring the probe into her father’s murder.

On behalf of Mukta Dabholkar, senior counsel Anand Grover said there was a larger conspiracy behind the four killings as the available evidence indicated that these cases may be connected and Mukta Dabholkar had raised this issue before the high court.

“The accused who are facing a trial (in Dabholkar case), according to you, there is no common thread in those four murders? Right… that is what you are saying?” the Bench asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, who represented the CBI. It asked the agency to look into it.