PUNE, India, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A search is on in western India for two gunmen who killed prominent rationalist Narendra Dabholkar while he was on a morning walk, police in Pune said.
Pune Police Commissioner Gulabrao Pol said investigators were examining footage from CCTV cameras in hope of learning the identity of the assailants, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
"The Maharashtra government has announced a reward of $15,625 for information on the case," Pol said.
The 65-year-old Dabholkar traveled extensively around the state of Maharashtra giving lectures promoting scientific thought and rationalism.
His lectures angered Hindu hard-liners, said the Maharashtra Committee for the Eradication of Blind Faith.
"I don't think the ploys of shutting down one voice will stop the progress of human beings," said committee member Deepak J. Girme.
Dabholkar's body has been taken to his hometown of Satara for cremation, Girme said.
