Family wants special team to probe Govind Pansare murder

The family of slain communist leader and social activist Govind Pansare has approached the Bombay high court seeking to intervene in a public interest litigation (PIL) that has sought CBI probe into his murder.

Pansare was shot on February 16 by unidentified men in Kolhapur while he was on morning walk. He was later shifted to a hospital in Mumbai where he breathed his last.

A PIL was filed by social activist Ketan Tirodkar seeking transfer of the murder probe to CBI.

Pansare's daughter Smita and daughter-in-law Megha Pansare filed an application through advocate Sandesh Shukla seeking permission to intervene in the PIL.

Shukla mentioned the application before a division bench of justices PV Hardas and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi, which has posted it for hearing along with the PIL on Wednesday.

"Instead of a CBI inquiry, the family wants a special investigation team to be formed and the court to monitor the probe," said Shukla.

He said that earlier the high court had transferred the probe into the murder of activist Narendra Dabholkar to the CBI but till date there has been no breakthrough. Similar was the case with the probe carried out into the murder of RTI activist Satish Shetty, he added.

Tirodkar, while seeking a CBI probe into the case had said that special teams formed by the state police have flopped miserably in the investigation in the Dabholkar murder case.