Indian Police Arrest Suspect in Shooting of Maharashtra Communist Leader

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/17/world/asia/india-maharashtra-govind-pansare-sanatan-sanstha.html

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NEW DELHI — A Hindu right-wing activist was arrested Wednesday in the killing of Govind Pansare, a veteran Communist leader, in February.

Mr. Pansare, 81, was shot during a morning walk with his wife near his home in Kolhapur, in southwestern India, and died four days later. Mr. Pansare was a vocal critic of the Hindu right-wing organizations active in Maharashtra State, where the city is located.

The suspect, Sameer Vishnu Gaikwad, 32, is a member of the right-wing organization Sanatan Sanstha, the police said. He was arrested “on the basis of electronic surveillance of his mobile phone,” Sanjay Kumar, a Maharashtra police official, said in a telephone interview. Mr. Kumar said that Mr. Gaikwad had made statements indicating his involvement.

Many people compared the killing of Mr. Pansare, considered a rationalist, to that of Narendra Dabholkar, who worked to debunk mysticism and superstitions, in 2013 in another city in Maharashtra. Investigators in that case interviewed dozens of activists associated with Sanatan Sanstha, but did not make an arrest.

On Aug. 30, Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi, who angered religious groups with his criticism of idol worship, was shot dead at his home in the southern state of Karnataka. No arrests have been made in that attack.