The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested two more men from Jalgaon district on Saturday for allegedly conspiring with Hindutva activists reported to have links to the Sanatan Sanstha organisation to carry out explosions across the state, The Indian Express reported. With this, seven people have been arrested in the case.
The accused – 29-year-old Vasudev Suryawanshi and 32-year-old Vijay alias Bhaiyya Lodh – are residents of Sakli village in the district, PTI reported. They have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Explosives Act and the Explosive Substances Act. They were scheduled to be produced in court on Sunday.
The investigators suspect that the two men provided vehicles to other accused to conduct reconnaissance of possible places that could be targeted. Documents, including maps, were seized from their possession, the police said.
The others arrested are Hindutva activist Vaibhav Raut, Sharad Kalaskar, Sudhanwa Gondhalekar, Avinash Pawar and Shrikant Pangarkar, a former Shiv Sena corporator. Raut was arrested on August 9 after a raid at his home in Mumbai’s Nalasopara locality. He is a member of the Bhandari community of Nalasopara and a co-founder of a cow protection group called the Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti. This group is said to be affiliated to the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, an offshoot of the Sanatan Sanstha.
Kalaskar is also an accused in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
On August 28, the Sanatan Sanstha distanced itself from the accused and said none of them had been part of the organisation.
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