Panaji: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed charges in a court against 11 activists of a Hindu right-wing organisation for the 2009 Diwali-eve blasts that killed two people in Goa’s Margao town.
However, the organisation itself has been given a clean chit, its top official claimed, noting that it has not been named as a conspirator. All the 11 people named in the chargesheet are members of Sanatan Sanstha, whose members were also linked to several low-intensity explosions in Maharashtra some years ago.
They face charges of conspiring and collecting arms for waging a war against the state and mischief. They have also been charged under the Explosive Substance Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The chargesheet, running into about 3,000 pages, was filed before sessions judge U V Bakre. The investigating agency also listed among the accused two Sanatan members who were killed in the blast that took place while they were ferrying the explosives to a festival gathering in Margao on October 16, 2009.
The two accused who died in the blast were Malgonda Patil of Sangli and Yogesh Naik of Talaulim-Ponda.
Four others—Vinay D Talekar, 28, and Vinayak P Patil, 29, both of Ponda, Dhananjay K Ashtekar, 28, of Ratnagiri and Dilip G Malgaonkar, 39, of Sangli—are in NIA’s custody. The remaining five—Rudra Patil of Sangli, Sarang Ankolekar of Pune, and Jayprakash alias Anna, Prashant Ashtekar and Prashant Juvekar, all from Ratnagiri—are absconding.
When contacted, Sanatan Sanstha spokesperson Abhay Vartak said: “We can’t comment until we see the chargesheet. However, we have trust in the judiciary and respect the judicial process.” Another top Sanatan official said that nowhere in the chargesheet had the NIA named it as a conspirator. The chargesheet names 250 witnesses, who are likely to be examined by the local court during the trial.
The NIA chargesheet said that the sanstha is an organization showing extreme interest in matters of the Hindu religion and that it organizes marshall training in their property at Damshe-Valpoi. It also points out that ten of the accused used a building owned by Laxmikant Naik, another brother of Yogesh Naik to conspire, assemble the IEDs and for blast meetings. The hillock behind Naik’s house at Talaulim-Ponda was used to test the IEDs prepared by using a gelatin stick on August 24 and 25, 2009. TNN AND AGENCIES Hindu Terror Comes To Fore?
National Investigation Agency names 11 members of Hindu outfit Sanatan Sanstha as accused in Margao blast in 2009
Chargesheet running into about 3,000 pages also names two men who were killed in an accidental blast while ferrying explosives to Margao Accused named are Vinay Talekar, Vinayak Patil, Dhananjay Ashtekar and Dilip Mangaonkar, all of whom are in jail Ashtekar is accused of rigging 12 detonator circuits in Pune, of which five were set aside for the Goa blast. Test IED was prepared with gelatin sticks and exploded in the jungles adjoining Talaulim village on August 24-25, 2009 Accused charged with criminal conspiracy, waging war against state, mischief and under explosives act and UAPA
LENS ON SANATAN SANSTHA
Set up in 1990 by Jayant Bal Athavale with the blessings of Bhaktaraj Maharaj, the outfit aimes at spreading scientific outlook on spirituality
With a chain of centres in India and abroad, the organization conducts discourses, rallies and campaigns to “create awareness of righteousness”
Several parties have sought a ban on the outfit, whose name has surfaced in many attacks and is linked to Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur
The Times of India, May 18, 2010
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