Police in western India have arrested a Hindu hardliner in connection with the murder of rationalist and Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Govind Pansare.

Sameer Gaikwad, a 32-year-old member of Hindu fundamentalist group Sanatan Sanstha, was arrested from his home town Sangli, Maharashtra early Wednesday morning, reported Indian Express. He was brought before a local court later in the day and remanded for seven days police custody.

"We have arrested Gaikwad based on technical surveillance. While we are trying to ascertain certain evidence, we don't want to claim that with Gaikwad's arrest, we have cracked the Pansare murder case," said Sanjay Kumar, chief of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), according to Hindustan Times.

"We have never said Gaikwad is the one who shot Pansare. He is a suspect (who is) likely to have involvement, directly or indirectly, in the murder case," Kumar added.

Gaikwad's arrest comes few days after the killing of well known scholar M M Kalburgi in neighbouring Karnataka province, according to Firstpost.

Pansare, an 81-year-old well-known rationalist, was gunned down at his house in Kolhapur district on Feb. 16. He died a few days later at a Mumbai hospital.

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