Maharashtra Hindu extremists ‘were highly trained, used code to communicate’

Sources say the four may have travelled to different parts of the country, including Goa, to receive training.

Mumbai: The four Hindutva activists arrested on charges of planning disruptive activities across Maharashtra seem to have travelled to different parts of the country, including Goa, for training, sources in the state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) said.

Sanatan Sanstha, a radical Hindu outfit suspected to have links with those being probed for the murders of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi as well as journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, is based in Goa.

Initial investigations show that the four accused — charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act — could have worked in silos and used code language in their communication.

“When people operate in silos, interact in codes, one can conclude that there is a high-level of training involved. The accused have been moving to different places in the country, including Goa,” said an ATS officer.

Last week, the Maharashtra ATS arrested 40-year-old Vaibhav Raut and 25-year-old Sharad Kalaskar in Nalasopara near Mumbai and 39-year-old Sudhanva Gondhalekar in Pune, and seized a huge cache of firearms and explosives.

Raut, a cow vigilante, is a coordinator of the Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti and is a Sanatan Sanstha sympathiser. He has also actively participated in events and programmes of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, which works with a stated aim of uniting Hindus and spreading education and awareness on dharma.

Gondhalekar was a member of the Right-wing Shivpratishthan Hindustan and has worked with members of the Sanatan Sanstha.

The questioning of Raut, Kalaskar and Gondhalekar led the Maharashtra ATS to a fourth arrest, Shrikant Pangarkar, a former Shiv Sena councillor from Jalna, in connection with its probe into a conspiracy to organise attacks in five cities of Maharashtra.

Pangarkar, who of late also had a base in Aurangabad, used to work in close coordination with members of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.

Seeking Pangarkar’s custody for 15 days, the ATS told the court Monday that Pangarkar is suspected to be the man behind arranging the funding for the explosives, arms and ammunition seized so far.

“He seems to be the provider and the facilitator. We have got his bank details and will be looking into his records from the time he has been active, which is 5-6 years,” the ATS officer said.

ATS sources suspected that there is another mastermind in this whole conspiracy and the investigation is underway.

However, the ATS is yet to ascertain the exact motive, the plan and the targets of the accused and more people are being questioned in the case, the sources added.

So far, the ATS has questioned people from areas around Aurangabad, Satara, Pune and Nalasopara.

Meanwhile, Kalaskar admitted during interrogation that he directly participated in Dabholkar’s murder, which is being investigated by the CBI. Based on Kalaskar’s confession, the CBI has arrested Aurangabad-based Sachin Andure in the case.

The agency Tuesday seized weapons, including a pistol, cartridge and a sword, from Aurangabad, acting on Andure’s confession.