PUNE: CBI counsel B P Raju told a magisterial court on Friday that the probe agency was hopeful about recovering the firearm used in the murder of Narendra Dabholkar and needed additional time for it after a forensic report confirming that the 7.65mm country-made pistol seized in August from Aurangabad was not linked with the murder of the rationalist.Raju was arguing before judicial magistrate first class S M A Sayyad over the CBI’s plea moved on November 12, invoking provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, the two shooters who allegedly fired on Dabholkar, and seeking 180-day time for filing of a supplementary chargesheet against them.The 90-day time to file chargesheet for murder under the Indian Penal Code would lapse on November 15 and December 2 in the case of Andure and Kalaskar, respectively.Dabholkar was shot dead by two men on Vitthal Ramji Shinde bridge near Omkareshwar temple on August 20, 2013.Lawyers Sanjiv Punalekar and Dharmraj Chandel, representing the accused, challenged the magistrate’s jurisdiction under the UAPA to hear the CBI plea. Punalekar also moved a plea on behalf of Andure seeking a default bail for the CBI’s failure to file the chargesheet. The magistrate will pass an order on these matters on Saturday.On August 21, the CBI had seized a 7.65mm country-made pistol and three live cartridges from the house of Andure’s friend in Aurangabad. The agency had then told the court that it was ascertaining if the firearm was used in the murder of Dabholkar, Communist leader Govind Pansare and scholar M M Kalburgi. A forensic report ruled out such a possibility in the case of Dabholkar.The CBI is continuing with its search for the four country-made pistols allegedly dismantled and thrown into a waterbody in Greater Mumbai and its adjoining area on July 23 this year by Kalaskar, first arrested by the ATS in the Nalasopara arms haul case on August 10.Raju submitted that the accused had taken the CBI team to the murder spot for reconstruction of events and the agency was searching various waterbodies in Greater Mumbai and its adjoining areas for the discarded firearms. The exercise needed sufficient time and, hence, the court ought to grant an extension of time for filing of the supplementary chargesheet, he submitted.The defence lawyers cited various rulings by the superior courts to argue that the magistrate had the jurisdiction to exercise power up to 90 days and the power to extend the time lied with the sessions court.

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