Thaindian News

Panaji, Oct 20 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into last week’s Goa blast in which two people were killed. Meanwhile, police here claimed they had never blamed Hindu right-wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha for the incident.
“Nowhere have we said that the organisation Sanatan Sanstha is involved. We just said that the persons who were suspected of carrying out the attack have links with Sanatan Sanstha,” Superintendent of Police (CID) Atmaram Deshpande told reporters Tuesday evening.

Deshpande was referring to Malgonda Patil and Yogesh Naik, two Sanatan Sanstha members who were killed when an improvised explosive device they were ferrying exploded in Goa’s Margao town on Diwali eve. Deshpande, however, said that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Goa police to probe the blast was “investigating every possibility including checking Sanatan Sanstha’s funding sources”.

“We will leave no stone unturned. Funding of the Sanatan Sanstha will be probed, so will the funding of the crime,” Deshpande said.

Earlier, speaking to reporters, Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar said Home Minister Ravi Naik was “sabotaging the police investigation for political ends” and only a central agency like the CBI could conduct an effective probe into the Diwali eve blast in Goa.

“We will be approaching Goa Governor S.S. Sidhu and we will also approach the union home ministry with a formal request that the case be handed over to CBI,” he said.

Parrikar accused Naik of destroying evidence and “trying to lead the investigation instead of the police”.

“The home minister is using the blast to politically target his rival in the cabinet Transport Minister Sudin Dhavalikar,” the former chief minister said, adding that Naik was repeatedly roping in Dhavalikar’s relative Nishad Bakhale into the scope of suspicion, even after the police had ruled out Bakhale’s involvement.

Bakhale had sold the Honda Eterno scooter which was used to ferry the explosives to Yogesh Naik’s brother Suresh.

Meanwhile, the second accused in the case Yogesh Naik, who was in critical condition due to injuries received in the blast died at 5:15 a.m. Tuesday morning, police said.

Patil and Naik were ferrying the IED on a two wheeler Friday evening when the explosion took place in Margao, 35 km from here. Naik was driving the scooter, while Patil was riding pillion.

Three other IEDs, two of which were found unexploded near the blast site and another about 30 km away near Vasco, did not go off.