Panaji, Dec 21 (IANS) Police here Monday refused to acknowledge that the Diwali-eve blasts in Goa had any links with Sadhvi Pragya Singh and Col. Shrikant Purohit, accused in the September 2008 blast in Malegaon.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) K.D. Singh also denied media reports that quoted him as saying that the Goa blast had links to the Sadhvi and Purohit.

“Now is not the time to say that there is link or no link as the case is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA)… We can’t disclose anything at this time,” Singh told reporters here.

Asked about a national newspaper Monday quoting him as saying that the accused in the Goa blast case had links with Sadhvi (Pragya) and Colonel (Shrikant) Purohit, he said: “I did not confirm anything. I was misquoted.”

Goa police spokesperson Atmaram Deshpande, meanwhile, said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had still not arrived in Goa to take charge of the investigations into the Diwali eve blast allegedly engineered by members of the Sanatan Sanstha.

“They were supposed to take charge today (Monday), but they have not arrived yet,” Deshpande said.

The NIA will take over the probe into the blast case from the special investigation team (SIT) instituted by the state government to probe the Oct 16 blast.

Two members of the Sanatan Sanstha had died when the detonator-rigged gelatine sticks they were carrying exploded accidentally Oct 16.

The SIT has already arrested four Sanatan Sanstha members in connection with the blast, three of whom hail from Maharashtra.