Pune: A Pune court on Sunday sent lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar, an accused in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, in judicial custody till July 6.
Additional Sessions Judge (special judge) R M Pande last Thursday granted Punalekar's custody to the CBI till June 23, after the agency said it recovered some "incriminating documents" from the lawyer's laptop and that he was required to be questioned about it.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday told the court it does not require any further custody of Punalekar, following which the judge sent the accused in judicial remand till July 6.
The lawyer and his assistant Vikram Bhave were arrested by the CBI on May 25.
Punalekar was accused of giving advice to Sharad Kalaskar, one of the shooters in the case, to destroy the fire arms used in the commission of the crime.
The court earlier remanded both the accused in CBI custody till June 1 and later extended it till June 4.
The court, however, later refused the CBI's plea to extend their custody to the probe agency and sent Punalekar and Bhave in judicial remand on June 4.
Later, Punalekar's counsel moved a bail application and while the argument on it was underway, the CBI on Thursday sought his custody to question him about some "incriminating documents and information" retrieved from his laptop which was seized by the central agency at the time of his arrest.
Dabholkar was shot dead in Pune on August 20, 2013.
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Baghdad, Feb 25 (AP): Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, known for promoting the rule of law, returned to Baghdad Tuesday for the first time in more than two years despite ongoing security threats.
In 2021, he survived an assassination attempt in which two armed drones targeted his residence in Baghdad's Green Zone area. The attack came at a time of tensions sparked by the refusal of Iran-backed militias to accept parliamentary election results.
Al-Kadhimi left Iraq after his term as prime minister ended in 2022 and has been living in London and the United Arab Emirates.
The former prime minister did not immediately make any public statements upon his return.
Three officials with his office who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly said security threats against the former prime minister were still present. They said he had returned at the invitation of current Iraqi political leaders who hoped he could use his connections to help them confront a worsening economic crisis that threatens the country's stability.
Al-Kadhimi has good relations with the United States and Saudi Arabia. Iraq is currently looking to strengthen ties with both countries, particularly as regional upheavals over the past year have left Iran in a weakened position.
During his term, Baghdad hosted a series of talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which helped pave the way for the regional rivals to formally restore diplomatic ties in 2023 after a seven-year rift. He was Iraq's former intelligence chief before becoming prime minister in 2020 following mass anti-government protests that toppled the previous cabinet.
Iraq is also set to hold parliamentary elections later this year, raising the possibility that al-Kadhimi might be preparing to attempt a political come-back.