Dabholkar case: Sanjeev Punalekar remanded to CBI custody till Jun 23

New Delhi: A Pune court on Thursday ordered Sanatan Sanstha lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar to be remanded to CBI custody till June 23, in connection with the Narendra Dabholkar murder case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had on Wednesday argued in court, seeking further custody of Punalekar to question him about details of the case. The probe agency had earlier also opposed the lawyer's bail plea, which is pending in the same court.

The CBI had arrested Punalekar and Vikram Bhave last month, in connection with the case. Punalekar allegedly gave advice to Sharad Kalaskar, one of the Dabholkar shooters, about how to destroy the firearms used in the commission of the crime.

The Sanatan Sanstha lawyer was previously held by the CBI in three short stints of custodial interrogation. However, arguing for his custody yet again, a senior official of the probe agency had reportedly said in court, "On the basis of some documents and material retrieved from electronic gadgets recovered from Punalekar's office, we need to cross-question him and for that, his CBI custody is needed."

During the course of proceeding, Senior Public Prosecutor (SPP) Prakash Suryavanshi said that the agency wants to confront the accused with the information gathered during his judicial custody.

The probe agency had also contended in court that the case has "national and international ramifications" as it is connected to three other murder cases.

Dabholkar was shot dead by bike-borne assailants while returning home from a morning walk on August 20, 2013.