Key Accused in Govind Pansare Murder Case Dies in Sangli
Sameer Gaikwad, a central figure in the 2015 assassination of veteran Communist Party of India leader Govind Pansare, died on Tuesday morning. Police officials confirmed his death in Maharashtra's Sangli district. They suspect a cardiac arrest caused his sudden passing.
Gaikwad was forty-three years old at the time of his death. He had secured bail in the high-profile murder case back in 2017. His discharge application remained pending before the court.
Background of the Govind Pansare Murder
The tragic incident occurred on February 16, 2015. Govind Pansare, aged eighty-one, was returning from his morning walk with his wife Uma in Kolhapur's Sagar Mal area. Two unidentified assailants shot them near their home.
Pansare sustained three bullet injuries. His wife Uma suffered two bullet wounds to her head, resulting in a skull fracture. Authorities moved Pansare to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai for treatment. He succumbed to his injuries on February 20, 2015. Uma recovered and received discharge from the hospital several weeks later.
Investigation and Legal Proceedings
The Rajarampuri police station in Kolhapur initially handled the investigation. Later, a Special Investigation Team under the Maharashtra CID's additional director general took over the case.
Investigators identified twelve accused individuals in total. The SIT arrested ten of them, including Sameer Gaikwad. Other arrested accused were Virendrasinh Tawade, Amol Kale, Vasudev Suryavanshi, Bharat Kurne, Amit Degwekar, Sharad Kalaskar, Sachin Andure, Amit Baddi, and Ganesh Miskin.
Two accused, Vinay Pawar and Sarang Akolkar alias Kulkarni, remain absconding. All individuals linked to the case have alleged connections to the Sanatan Sanstha organization.
Prosecutors filed the first chargesheet in December 2015. They submitted four supplementary chargesheets against nine other accused later. A Kolhapur court formally framed charges against ten accused in January 2023, marking the trial's commencement. All ten pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The case now faces an unexpected turn with Gaikwad's death while his discharge application was still under judicial consideration.
