MUMBAI: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Maharashtra Police on Thursday claimed to have stumbled upon a lead in the murder case of veteran CPI leader Govind Pansare, a day after apprehending a suspect Sameer Gaikwad.
“We have recorded Gaikwad’s conversation with his female friend living in Mumbai. Gaikwad talked about how Pansare was eliminated,” an officer of the SIT revealed.
The SIT also raided several places in the city as well as Panvel and Sankeshwar in Karnataka. Gaikwad, a full-time worker of the right wing, Sanatan Sanstha, is a native of Sankeshwar. The SS has its headquarters in Panvel. Another officer said they had recovered 23 mobile handsets from Gaikwad’s residence in the city. “He used to change SIM cards regularly. We are questioning him on his association with the SS and whether there was an organised crime syndicate,” the officer said. The SIT had scanned around two crore phone calls made from Gaikwad’s numbers since Pansare was shot at outside his Kolhapur residence on February 16 this year.
As the opposition has demanded a ban on Sanatan Sanstha, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said his government would consider it if the organisation’s role in the murder was established.