Two Sanatan Sanstha workers died when the bomb they were ferrying to Margao, Goa, accidentally exploded in November 2009.
Sanatan Sanstha activists Virendra Tawde and Sarang Akolkar wanted to eliminate rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in 2009 itself, but they dropped the plan due to the Margao bomb blast that took place in the same year, CBI sources allege on Wednesday, citing evidence pieced together by the agency.
Two Sanatan Sanstha workers - Malgonda Patil and Yogesh Naik - died when the bomb they were ferrying to Margao, Goa, accidentally exploded in November 2009. Akolkar, one of the accused in the blast, case is absconding since then.
"As per the documentary evidence and investigation till now, Tawde and Akolkar wanted to kill Dabholkar in 2009. However, they had to drop the plan after two Sanatan Sanstha workers died when the bomb, they were ferrying to Margao, accidentally went off," they said.
The Central agency is probing the Dabholkar murder case, which was handed over to it in May 2014 by the Bombay High Court. The NIA is handling the Margao blast case.
Tawde, an ENT surgeon, was arrested from Panvel, Navi Mumbai last week for the murder of the 67-year-old anti superstition crusader. He is the first accused to be held in the nearly three-year-old case.
Tawde, suspected to be the brain behind the murder conspiracy, kept on planning a hit on the activist along with Akolkar. The plan was finally executed on August 20, 2013, when Dabholkar was shot dead by two unidentified men while he was on a morning walk on Omkareshwar Bridge here, they said.
In another revelation, the sources said workers of the Goa-based right-wing outfit were present near the bridge when the murder took place.
The sources said Tawde hated Dabholkar for his relentless campaign against religious superstition. He also allegedly played a key role in the 2009 Sangli-Miraj riots.
The Sanstha has denied any role in Dabholkar's murder and termed Tawde's arrest as "mysterious".