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The family of Narendra Dabholkar has accused Union Minister Kiren Rijiju of "misleading" the Parliament through his statement that there is no connection between the killing of the rationalist and the murders of Kannada author MM Kalburgi and Left leader Govind Pansare.
Hamid Dabholkar, son of the slain rationalist thinker and founder of Maharastra Andhshradha Nirmulan Samiti, said there is a "striking similarity" between the three murders.
"This statement is not based on facts and is misguiding Parliament. There is a striking similarity in the modus operandi in these three murders and that cannot be ignored.
"The investigating agency in each of these three murders has said that the murder has not taken place for any personal reason but for opposition to the thoughts for which these three veterans stood in their respective domain of work," Avinash Patil, state chairman of MANS, and Hamid Dabholkar said at a press conference.
They further claimed that in a writ petition filed by the family of Pansare, it has come on record that one Rudra Patil, who is an accused in Goa bomb blast case, had some role in the Pansare murder case.
He added that Rudra Patil's wife is representing Sameer Gaikwad, who has been arrested in the Pansare murder case, in the court.
"It has also come on record of judicial magistrate, Kolhapur, dealing with Pansare murder case that Gaikwad, an accused in Pansare murder case, and absconding Rudra Patil, an accused in Goa bomb blast case, are friends and have close relationship," Dabolkar said.
He added that the writ petitions of Dabholkar and Pansare were clubbed together by Bombay High Court after it noticed the similarity in the two killings.
In a written reply in Rajya Sabha on December 2, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told Rajya Sabha that, "as per available information, there is no report to suggest any linkage/connection between the murders of Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar and MM Kalburgi".