Panaji, Oct 31 (IANS) Two more Sanatan Sanstha associates, including an MBA, were arrested in Goa Saturday in connection with the Diwali eve blast in Margao in which two members of the Hindu group were killed while carrying a bomb, police said.
Police did not rule out the possibility of more arrests and the involvement of a mastermind behind the Goa blast Oct 16.

Those arrested have been identified as Vinay Talekar, 30 and Vinayak Patil, 27 — originally from Karwar and Belgaum in Karnataka respectively — Superintendent of Police (criminal investigation department) Atmaram Deshpande told reporters here.

“With their arrest the pace of investigation into the Goa blast will definitely quicken. At this stage we are not ruling out further arrests,” he said.

“There is a very high possibility that a mastermind is involved behind the blast. A mastermind will not come out in the open like this,” Deshpande said, when asked about the role Malgonda Patil, one of the two SS members who died while handling the improvised explosive device (IED) on in Margao, 35 km from here.

With the two arrests, the number of SS associates booked in the Goa blast case has increased to four, including the SS duo of Patil and Yogesh Naik, who were killed in the explosion.

Asked if the arrest of two more SS associates now meant that the role of the Sanstha was becoming more evident in the blast case, Deshpande said: “I will leave it to you to decide”. He said that Talekar was a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Goa university, while Atil worked as a driver at the Park Hyatt hotel in South Goa.

“They were being called for questioning for the last few days. They finally broke down early today (Saturday) morning, after which the FIR was registered,” Deshpande said, adding that the duo were good friends with the deceased Patil.

“They have been arrested under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities Act and the Explosive Substances act,” Deputy Inspector General of Police R.S. Yadav earlier said.

The arrests were conducted at 12:40 a.m. by members of the Special Investigation Team which has been formed to probe the blast.