I was confident that I will be acquitted due to lack of evidence : Vikram Bhave, Sanatan Sanstha

Vikram Bhave, Sanatan Sanstha

The honourable Court acquitted me today. It was what I expected. The CBI officers arrested me in a wrong manner. There was no evidence against me in the ‘Dabholkar Murder Case’. Hence, no one could produce any evidence in the Court; hence, it was clear that I would be acquitted. Today, it became a reality, and it makes me happy.

When the CBI officials arrested me, one of them warned me that the agency would let me go if I testified against Advocate Sanjeev Punalekar. If not, they would keep me locked up in prison. I was arrested because I refused to testify falsely. They charged me with recce but could not produce any evidence to back this accusation. They repeatedly lied on oath that they had evidence and denied me bail on multiple occasions. But the truth prevailed as they could not produce evidence against me before the Court.

These officers denied permission to perform the last rites of my father. The honourable High Court granted me bail on the condition that I remain in the Pune district till the ‘Dabholkar Murder Case’ was not concluded. My father breathed his last in a village. I could not perform his last rites despite being the only son. I sought permission from the Court for the same, but it took three weeks. Later, I could only perform a few remaining rites. I will not say that the Police deliberately delayed the whole process, as it was a legal procedure. In such cases, the application gets allotted a number, and its merit gets debated. In this case, it took a very long time to conclude. Otherwise, it could have happened a little earlier.