Gauri Lankesh case accused joins Shinde Sena ahead of Maharashtra polls, gets charge of Jalna campaign

On Friday, Pangarkar joined the Shinde Sena in the presence of party leader and former state minister Arjun Khotkar, who said he (Pangarkar) has been given charge of the party’s poll campaign in Jalna Assembly constituency.

“Pangarkar is a former Shiv Sainik and has returned to the party. He has been given responsibility of the Jalna Vidhan Sabha poll campaign… He has been working for the party. He has been released by the court and has come out of jail after completing the judicial proceedings,” said Khotkar, who is likely to contest the Assembly elections. Asked if Pangarkar would get a party ticket, Khotkar said he would work for the party in Jalna.

When contacted, the Shinde Sena’s spokesperson and MLA, Sanjay Shirsat, however, said he was not aware of Pangarkar joining the party.

Pangarkar was Jalna municipal councillor of the undivided Shiv Sena between 2001and 2006. After he was dropped by the party during the 2011 civic elections, he joined the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti.

Pangarkar was arrested in two cases earlier — by the Karnataka police SIT for the Lankesh murder, and by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in the Nallasopara arms haul case – and was lodged at Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail before being released on bail.

In the Lankesh case, he was accused of arranging firearms and attending a training camp. The Karnataka High Court granted him bail on September 4 this year, observing that he was one of the accused who was admittedly not at the crime scene, but was accused of conspiring and arranging vehicles and firearms.

In the arms haul case — pistols, airguns and crude bombs were seized in Maharashtra’s Nallasopara in August 2018 — the ATS claimed that Pangarkar had facilitated the funding for procuring the weapons. The 12 accused arrested, including Pangarkar, were charged with plotting attacks.

The ATS claimed that the accused had conspired to disrupt the Sunburn music festival held in Pune in December 2017 by throwing petrol bombs, because they felt that it was against Hindu culture. They dropped the plan after an accused found himself exposed to a CCTV camera at the venue, it said. The ATS also claimed that the 12 accused had conducted recce of the homes of some prominent persons.

The ATS filed a chargesheet in December 2018. Pangarkar and the others were charged under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive Substances Act, Arms Act and Maharashtra Police Act.

On July 30 this year, the Bombay High Court granted Pangarkar and four others bail on the ground that the trial was underway, but the possibility of its timely completion appeared bleak.

Lankesh was shot dead outside her residence in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017. A Karnataka police SIT arrested 17 persons linked to the Sanatan Sanstha and other outfits for the murder. Eleven of the 17 accused have been granted bail while the case has been under trial.

Earlier this month, two key accused in the Lankesh case, including the alleged shooter, were felicitated by members of Hindutva groups in the Vijayapura region of Karnataka after they were released on bail.