2009 Goa blast: Sanatan Sanstha member held

An absconding member of right-wing Hindu organisation Sanatan Sanstha has been arrested by Maharashtra ATS for his alleged role in the 2009 Goa blast -- the sixth person to be held in the case.

An ATS team laid a trap and arrested Prashant Juvekar, absconding since October 16 last year, from near Bhusawal railway station in Jalgaon district on July 31, state ATS chief Rakesh Maria said.

Juvekar, 24, hailing from Ratnagiri, was produced before a Nashik court which remanded him in police custody till August 3.

A 7.65 mm pistol was recovered from Juvekar, who was actively involved in the conspiracy and was trained in making IEDs, detonators and timing devises, Maria said.

The blast, which had claimed two lives, occurred on Diwali-eve in a busy thoroughfare in Margao, barely a few hundred metres from a place where Chief Minister Digamber Kamat was participating in some celebrations.

The National Investigating Agency (NIA), probing the case, had filed a charge sheet against 11 Sanatan Sanstha members and made five arrests before nabbing Juvekar. Those named in the charge sheet include Malgonda Patil and Yogesh Naik, who were killed when the bomb went off.

According to the ATS, Juvekar had met Patil on August 23 when duo went to some place where the former was trained in making explosives. They had also discussed the blast conspiracy.

"Juvekar was trained for three days in making explosives. On experimental basis, the duo even exploded a small IED in hill area near Naik's residence," Maria said.

Since the blast, Juvekar frequently changed his location to evade arrest, he said, adding the accused stayed in suburban Malad here for sometime at his maternal uncle's place and travelled to various places including Baroda, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Delhi, Varanasi and Bihar.

Juvekar, graduated in Commerce stream and discontinued his law course. His mother and father are retired bank employees.

Maria said the NIA has been informed about Juvekar's arrest and the agency was likely to seek his custody soon.

The other five arrested are Vinay Talekar, Vinayak Patil, Dhananjay Ashtekar, Dilip Mangaonkar and Prashant Ashtekar. The absconding accused in the case are Sarang Akolkar, Jayaprakash alias Anna, Rudra Patil.