A local court on Saturday remanded Virendra Tawade, a member of Hindu Janjagruti Samiti and an accused in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, to Central Bureau of Investigation custody till June 16.
Meanwhile, the Sanatan Sanstha alleged that Tawde was being 'implicated' by the probe agency on the basis of false allegations levelled by a witness, who himself is facing criminal charges.
The Special Investigating Team probing the murder of rationalist and Left leader Govind Pansare suspects role of two more Sanatan Sanstha members, who are absconding in connection with the 2009 Madgaon blast, in the case, police sources said on Monday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for giving credible information about absconding accused Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
Sanatan Sanstha member Prashant Juvekar, arrested for his alleged role in the 2009 Goa blast, was included in the group tasked with engineering the explosion due to his 'aggressiveness' in propagating the outfit's ideology, Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad officials said on Tuesday.
The Goa police on Monday made the first arrest in the Margao blasts, in which two persons were killed, when a man with alleged links to a Hindu right-wing group 'Sanatan Sanstha' was detained and searches were carried out at the outfit's office.The two victims, who were killed in the blast, were activists of the Sanstha. The police had earlier detained five members of the that which has recently come under the scanner of security agencies.
Denying any involvement in the Margao blast, Hindu right-wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha on Monday alleged that Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik is falsely implicating the outfit, to hide his failure in probing the matter. "Naik's remarks that, police are probing our foreign links, is ridiculous. It is indeed a big defeat of the Goa government that they are still unable to find the real culprits. Naik is making these allegations just to hide his failure," a spokesperson said.
Sanatan Sanstha -- the right-wing organisation under probe -- strongly denies being involved in the Margao blast. Instead it accuses the state government of falsely implicating the organisation.
The investigating agencies could not expose the masterminds behind the murder of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, and must introspect whether it was a mere failure or a 'deliberate inaction' due to the influence of any 'person in power', the trial court here said on Friday in its judgment.
CBI lawyer B P Raju sought further custodial interrogation of the accused, saying he was not cooperating with the investigating agency.
Sameer Gaikwad, in his early 30s, was arrested from Sangli in a joint operation by the Kolhapur and the local police.
An SIT officer probing the murder case said the investigation is in final stage and a chargesheet will be filed in two months.
Two persons were picked up on Monday from Belthangady in Mangalore in connection with the Malegaon blast case. It has been learnt that the two belong to the Sanatan Sanstha organisation. Investigators are also exploring a possible link between the Malegaon blast and the blast in Goa around Diwali 2009.
The Goa home ministry has said that Malgonda Patil, prime accused in the Margao blast, was also a managing trustee of two more Hindu organisations besides his association with the right wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha.
Main accused in the Margao blast Malgonda Patil had revealed to the police names of those involved in the explosion before his death, said Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik. "Patil made certain statements to the police before his death naming people who were involved (in the blast), while he was being shifted from a hospital in Margao to Panaji," Naik told reporters.
A Special Investigating Team was formed by the Goa government on Sunday to probe the Margao blast in which two members of a Hindu right-wing organisation, allegedly involved in the explosion, were killed.
The Mumbai police arrested a man from Bengaluru for allegedly threatening Maharashtra cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray, an official said on Thursday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the 2007 Mecca Masjid blasts that claimed 15 lives, may be close to cracking the case.
Sanatan Sanstha spokeperson Abhay Vartak told rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa about the demand for the ban, Hindu terrorism and also the activities of the organisation in the wake of the Maharashtra government alleging that they were into terror activities.
Police were probing the links of right-wing group Sanatan Saunstha with the blast that took place at 9.30 pm on Friday night when explosives kept in a scooter went off on a busy street in Margao, 30 km from Panaji.
However, a lawyer representing Dabholkar's daughter claimed before the court that the CBI has not investigated the case properly and there are many loopholes that are yet to be probed.
Gaikwad's bail application came up before Justice C V Bhadang who adjourned the matter to July 11 with the mutual consent of the accused and the prosecution.
A foreign sea explorer agency recovered the firearm from a creek in neighbouring Thane district of Maharashtra.
Vaibhav Raut, a member of 'Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti', was apprehended from Bhandar Aali in Nallasopara west on Thursday night.
Dabholkar was shot dead in August, 2013 while Lankesh was shot dead in September, 2017.
'The arrests of Sanatan Sanstha members for committing murder and stockpiling explosives with the alleged intent of committing mass murder must be embarrassing to a majoritarian government,' notes Devangshu Datta.
Rushikesh Devdikar alias Murali, 44, who was absconding was arrested on Thursday from his hideout at Katras in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand, the SIT said in a statement. According to the probe team, Devdikar was part of the conspiracy to kill Lankesh. He is accused number 18 in the case.
Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil on Saturday said that his department has not given any clean chit to Hindu outfits in connection with the murder of rationalist activist Narendra Dabholkar.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday sought to know from Maharashtra government if it has decided to seek a CBI probe in the Govind Pansare murder case as claimed by the lawyer of family of the slain activist, even as the prosecutor said he has no such instruction so far.
Incidents like the Dadri lynching "damage" the image of the National Democratic Alliance government, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has nothing to do with them, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said.
The official said the organisation, composed of people drawn from Hindu right groups, had around 60 members spread across at least five states but had no name.
In August 2016, at a meeting of the syndicate, the main members identified Lankesh as a durjan "as told in the Kshatra Dharma Sadhana based on her speeches and writings
Amid bitterness in ties with ally Shiv Sena, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has fired a fresh salvo questioning the opposition to his decision to provide security to Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali when Sena Chief's family had hosted cricketer Javed Miandad from that country.
Police have claimed that the probe into the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar is on the "right track". But no concrete clue to the broad daylight slaying seems to have emerged a month after the incident that jolted the progressive social movement in Maharashtra.
The extremist outfit has a tainted past and has been entangled in different legal cases for extortion, rioting and instigating violence
'They have realised that class war is not possible in India, so they are trying to bring about a caste war.'
'The Congress should have accepted our demands.' 'Gone are the days when it could decide how many crumbs to throw at us.' 'Now, we make the demands.'
'You know, there's not much else happening other than the juicy murder story starring the TV mogul's trophy turned huntress wife,' says Mango Indian.
Bharadwaj claimed a number of human rights lawyers, activists and organisations were deliberately named to cast a stigma over them, obstruct their work and incite hatred against them.
'This is how Narendra Modi-Amit Shah rule. They are now announcing that these arrested Naxalites want to kill Modi.'
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