Cops file charge sheet in Pansare murder case

The Maharashtra Police on Monday filed a charge sheet in a local court against Sameer Gaikwad, an activist of the right-wing Sanatan Sanstha outfit.

He was arrested in connection with the murder of Communist leader Govind Pansare in February this year. Gaikwad was arrested by a team of Kolhapur police and Special Investigation Team  on September 16. He is in judicial custody till December 18.

The 392-page charge sheet, filed by the police before Judicial Magistrate R D Dange, mentions a list of 77 witnesses.

Gaikwad is associated with the Sanatan Sanstha since 1998. His family, too, is associated with the outfit. His wife resides in the Goa ashram of Sanatan Sanstha.

The Sanstha is one of several right-wing groups active in southern Maharashtra, northern Karnataka and Goa. It was founded in 1990 by Jayant Balaji Athavale with the blessings of Bhaktaraj Maharaj and is based on the study of spirituality as a science. It also has branches abroad besides in India.

Eighty-two-year-old  Pansare and his wife Uma were attacked by two motor-cycle borne youths on February 16 near his residence in Kolhapur. He died four days later at the Breach Candy Hospital here.