Government announces Rs 10 lakh reward for information on Govind Panasare’s killers
The Special Investigation Team believes Sanatan Sanstha activists Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar were involved in the CPI(M) leader’s murder in 2015.
A Special Investigation Team on Wednesday announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information on Sanatan Sanstha activists Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar in connection with the murder of senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Govind Panasare, the Hindustan Times reported. The SIT believes both the activists were involved in Panasare’s murder on February 15, 2015.
“We had submitted the proposal requesting the government to announce a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone giving information about Akolkar and Pawar,” said Special Inspector General Vishwas Nagre Patil. “The government has accepted our proposal.”
Patil also said that the court has issued non-bailable warrants against the duo. The two activists have been untraceable ever since their names cropped up in 2009 Margao blast that killed two members of the Sanstha.
The Pansare case
Panasare and his wife were shot by unidentified persons in February 2015 when they were returning home from their morning walk. While his wife survived, Panasare died at a Mumbai hospital four days later.
Sanatan Sanstha activist Samir Gaikwad, an accused in the murder case of Pansare, was arrested in connection with the murder in Sangli on September 16, 2015, by the Maharashtra Police special investigation team. He was sent to judicial custody on December 25, 2015 after a police plea for further custody was rejected by a court in Kolhapur. Gaikwad was later granted bail on June 17.