Govind Pansare.

AHMEDABAD: Forensic ballistics link the three murder cases of rationalists — Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M M Kalburgi between August 2013 and August 2015 — claims a report by the Gujarat Directorate of Forensic Sciences (DFS) submitted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

While a forensic science laboratory (FSL) in Karnataka had linked these cases from the analysis of cartridges last year, DFS has for the first time analysed the bullets and one firearm seized with cartridges, providing conclusive evidence of the link.

Sources at DFS said that the three high-profile murders, which sparked the ‘award wapsi’ row and widespread protests across the country, also had similar modi operandi.

The firearm seized by Maharashtra police in the murder of Dabholkar doesn’t match the ballistics in any of the cases, the report says. In all the killings, the victims were shot dead at point blank range in the head and chest early in the morning with country-made firearms of 7.65mm calibre.

“Every firearm has a unique print – much like a fingerprint – which it leaves on bullets and cartridges. Forensic ballistics compares these marks on the bullet with a firearm to ascertain if the same weapon fired a particular bullet,” said a ballistics expert.

Sources said two firearms were used in Pansare’s killing. “The same firearms – one each in the two other shootings – were used to gun down Dabholkar and Kalburgi. The ballistics of the firearm seized by Maharashtra police doesn’t match any of the bullets or cartridges,” they added. So far, the firearms used in the killings have not been found.

Dabholkar, 69, was shot dead with four bullets in Pune at 7.20am on August 20, 2013 when on a walk. Pansare, 81, and his wife Uma were on a morning walk near their home in Mumbai, at 9.25am on February 16, 2015, when bike-borne assailants fired five bullets at them. The bullet wounds claimed Pansare’s life four days later. Kalburgi, 77, was at his home in Dharwad, Karnataka, on August 30, 2015 when two men, claiming to be his students, gained entry to his residence and shot him twice at close range, before fleeing on a bike.

Their killings sparked widespread outrage, including the return of 38 awards by Sahitya Akademi awardees after the killing of Kalburgi, a fellow member. The Maharashtra and Karnataka governments had announced cash rewards for information on the killings and had roped in the CBI. The central agency even approached Scotland Yard for forensic analysis after it was pulled up by the judiciary.

