Thaindian News

Panaji, May 17 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Monday filed charges in a court against 11 activists of a Hindu right wing organisation for the 2009 Diwali-eve blast that killed two people in Goa’s Margao town.
The accused are facing charges of conspiring and collecting arms for waging a war against the state and mischief.

All 11 people named in the charge sheet are members of Hindu right wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha, whose members were also linked to several low-intensity explosions in Maharashtra some years back.

The charge sheet, numbering about 3,000 pages, was filed before Sessions Judge U.V. Bakre.

The investigating agency also listed among the accused two Sanatan Sanstha members who were killed in the accidental blast that took place while they were ferrying explosives to a festival gathering in Margao, 35 km from here, Oct 16, 2009.

The two accused who died in the blast were Malgonda Patil and Yogesh Naik.

The charge sheet names 250 witnesses, who are likely to be examined by the local court during the trial.

Those named as accused include Vinay Talekar, Vinayak Patil, Dhananjay Ashtekar, all residents of Goa, and Dilip Mangaonkar, a resident of Maharashtra. They all are at present in judicial custody.

Other accused named in the charge sheet are Prashant Juvekar, Sarang Akolkar, Jayaprakash, Rudra Patil and Prashant Ashtekar, all residents of Maharashtra. They all are absconding.

Giving details of the sequence of events before the blast, the NIA said that Ashtekar rigged 12 electronic detonator circuits in Pune and out of these he set aside five for the intended explosion in Goa.

The charge sheet said that a dry run was also carried out by the accused a couple of months before the Diwali-eve blast.

The investigation into the Margao blast was initially conducted by a special investigation team (SIT) of Goa Police, but was later handed over to the NIA.

Apart from facing charges for waging war against the state, they have also been charged under the Explosive Substance Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.