Tag: mumbai explosives case

Maharashtra Arms Haul: ATS Names Sanathan Sanstha in Chargesheet

The accused had hatched a conspiracy to undermine security and sovereignty of the country, including targeting a music festival in Pune, the agency said.

Mumbai: The accused in the Maharashtra arms haul case were members of right-wing outfits like the Sanathan Sanstha and motivated to establish a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, police said in its chargesheet filed in a special court here Wednesday.

The state police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which probed the case, submitted its chargesheet against 12 accused in the special NIA court presided over by additional sessions judge Vinod Padalkar.

The case relates to seizure of arms and ammunition from different parts of the state in August this year.

“The accused were members of organisations such as the (Goa-headquartered) Sanathan Sanstha, (its affiliate) ‘Hindu Janjagruti’ and similar other smaller outfits,” the ATS said.

“They had drawn their motivation of making efforts towards establishment of so-called Hindu Rashtra as explained in the Marathi book Kshatra Dharma Sadhana, published by Sanathan Sanstha,” it said.

The accused had hatched a conspiracy to undermine security and sovereignty of the country, the investigating agency said.

“The accused had also conspired to form a terrorist gang of youths with similar mindset to work towards undermining unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of the country,” it said.

The gang had planned to use country-made pistols and bombs, and target the individuals who speak, write, perform against the so-called Hindu Dharma, its traditions and customs besides targeting similar kinds of programmes in order to terrorise the minds of the common people, the squad said.

It was revealed during investigation that a western music programme, Sunburn, organised in Pune in December 2017 – was on the radar of the “terrorist gang”, says the 6,800-page chargesheet which has statements of around 190 witnesses.

“The terrorist gang had planned to use country-made bombs, petrol bombs, firearms and engage in heavy stone pelting in order to send a strong message to the followers of western music and culture, and terrorise the minds of all those who would attend the said programme,” it said.

The gang had prepared itself to attack the programme, but dropped its plan at the last moment because one of the accused informed others that he had possibly been exposed to one of the CCTV cameras installed at the venue, the ATS said.

“It has also been revealed during investigation that the terrorist gang had recced with intention to harm physically rational individuals, speakers, litterateurs and others who target the Hindu religion and its traditions and customs,” said the ATS document.

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) has been slapped against the accused after taking necessary approval from authorities concerned, it said.

There is strong evidence against the accused for invoking the stringent anti-terror act against them, the ATS told the court.

Also Read: Maharashtra Terror Accused Planned Blasts at Pune Music Festival

When contacted by PTI, Sanathan Sanstha national spokesman Chetan Rajhans denied any links with the accused.

“We have nothing to do with the accused. They are not members of Sanathan Sanstha. They were never our members. It is very surprising that the ATS has taken our name (in the chargesheet),” he said.

The charge sheet has named 12 accused, namely Sharad Kalskar (25), Vaibhav Raut (44), Sudhanwa Gondhlekar (39), Shrikant Pangarkar (40), Avinash Pawar (30), Leeladhar Ukhirde (32), Vasudeo Suryawanshi (19), Suchit Kumar Rangswamy (37), Bharat Kurne (37), Amol Kale (34), Amit Baddi (27) and Ganesh Dasharath Miskin (28).

The accused, arrested from Nallasopara in adjoining Palghar district, Pune, Aurangabad and elsewhere in the state, are currently in judicial custody.

Besides the UAPA, the accused have also been booked under relevant sections of the Explosive Substances Act, IPC, Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act.

Three to four more accused are absconding, according to the ATS.

A huge quantity of explosives and firearms was seized during raids conducted by the ATS at Nallasopara, Pune and some other parts of the state.

The first of the raids was conducted in Nallasopara on August 10 and led to the arrest of Raut who ran the ‘Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti’, a little-known cow protection outfit, in Nallasopara near Mumbai, police had said.

The seized haul included 23 live country-made bombs, 15 pistols, 10 pistol barrels, six pistol magazines, three partially made pistol magazines and half a dozen pistol slides, they said.

Besides weapons, hard drives, pen drives, memory cards, hard discs, eight number plates of vehicles, copies of Kshatra Dharma Sadhana, several pocket diaries and notebooks were seized during the raids, they added.

Gau Raksha Group in Maharashtra Rallies in Support of Terror Accused

Over six thousand people gathered in support of Vaibhav Raut, one of the three men arrested by Anti Terror Squad for their alleged role in terror activities, in what they said was an ’emotional appeal’ to the state police.

Mumbai: Even as the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is investigating the role of three Hindu hardliners arrested in Maharashtra for their alleged roles in terror activities, over six thousand people gathered at a protest rally organised in Nallasopara, North Mumbai on August 17. The protest rally was an “emotional appeal” to the state police and was organised in the support of the prime accused Vaibhav Raut, said one of the organisers.

Raut, a resident of Nallasopara and who ran a ‘cow-protection outfit’ called the ‘Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti’ in the region since 2014 was arrested on August 10 along with Sharad Kalaskar of Aurangabad and Sudhanva Gondhalekar of Satara. According to the investigating agency, Kalaskar and Gondhalekar were allegedly working with Raut to make homemade bombs and to spread panic at public gatherings. The ATS has claimed that the trio were planning to place one of the bombs a few metres away from one of the upcoming Maratha rallies. This, accordingly to the investigations so far, was to make the state act upon the long pending Maratha community’s demand for reservation. The trio have been sent to ATS’s custody until August 28.

The gathering at Nallasopara on Friday mainly comprised of men and women from different areas like Dahanu, Wada, Thane, Raigad and Mumbai. Most of them belonged to the Bhandari caste, to which Raut belongs to. “Raut has been leading an active public life and his work of saving cows is known across this region. He has in fact influenced several other youths to get involved in the work of Gau Raksha. The Bhandari community came out in support of his work and wrongful criminalisation yesterday in the rally,” said Diptesh Patil, one of Raut’s close friends and also a co-founder of the cow-protection organisation that Raut floated a few years ago.

‘Ill-treatment’ alleged

Patil, further alleged that Raut was wrongly implicated and he and his family was “ill-treated” by the ATS officials a night before his arrest. “The police locked his wife Lakshmi Raut and a toddler in one room and carried out their interrogation in the house. People in the locality witnessed this and it was clear from day one he was the victim of a larger conspiracy,” Patil added. According to the locals, Raut’s house was allegedly searched without a warrant and the police refused to carry out the mandatory Panchnama at the spot.

Dilip Raut, a resident of Nallasopara who had participated in the demonstration, also repeated Patil’s claim. “How can a man who promotes saving life (referring to cow protection), be involved in a violent act. The state has been targeting individuals and organisations that have been actively working for this cause,” Dilip claimed.

Although Raut floated his own organisation towards the end of 2014, he is known to be closely associated with the Hindi Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), one of the sister organisations of Sanathan Sanstha. Sources in the ATS claim that Raut got his initial training from HJS and decided to form his own unit to primarily focus on protecting cows in the state. Sanathan Sanstha has a chequered past with two of it’s karyakartas already convicted for their roles in planting bombs at a theatre in Thane and Panvel near Mumbai. In 2015, another member was arrested for his alleged role on the killing of the rationalist and leader of the Communist Party of India Govind Pansare. The trial in the case is yet to commence.

In 2014, Raut along with other members of his organisation went about registering a series of cases against owners of local slaughter houses for indulging in beef sales. Raut also was involved in a series of “raids” across the city against traders who allegedly we’re involved in transporting cows for slaughter. His organisation also registered cases against these individuals.