Malegaon blast accused trained Gauri Lankesh murder suspects, Karnataka SIT finds: Report

Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, absconding suspects in Malegaon blast cases, emerged in the investigation of journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder.

The names of two absconding accused in the 2006 and 2008 Malegaon blast case, Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, surfaced during the Karnataka Police’s investigation into the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, according to findings submitted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The SIT alleges they trained attendees at covert camps run by groups connected to Sanatan Sanstha, contributing to a network targeting ideological opponents.

Both men, also wanted in the 2007 Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif blast cases, are suspected to have served as trainers at covert arms and explosives camps attended by several of the 17 people arrested for Lankesh’s murder, Indian Express reported.

These training camps were organised by groups linked to Sanatan Sanstha between 2011 and 2017, with five camps in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat attended by “guest trainers,” the SIT chargesheet states.

Kalsangra and Dange, linked to the right-wing group Abhinav Bharat, are among seven men connected to multiple bombings from 2006 to 2009 who have disappeared. Others include Amit Hakla (alias Ashwini Chauhan), wanted in the Samjhauta and Malegaon cases, and Sanatan Sanstha-linked Sarang Akolkar, Rudra Patil, and Jay Prakash, all wanted in the 2009 Goa blast case.

The Karnataka SIT, based on statements from accused and witnesses, created sketches of the guest trainers. One of them, Suresh Nair, an Abhinav Bharat member and accused in the 2007 Ajmer blast, was arrested in Gujarat in 2018 and identified as “Bade Babaji,” a trainer who attended camps in Gujarat and Jalna. His arrest suggested that Dange and Kalsangra could have similarly posed as trainers at these camps.

The SIT also linked training activities to other murders, including those of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, and M M Kalburgi, claiming a covert group aligned with Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti operated a network to eliminate ideological opponents. The camps provided training in IEDs, subterfuge, and arms use. Arrested persons described trainers with titles like “Babaji” and “Guruji,” dressed as monks.

The SIT’s 9,235-page chargesheet, filed in November 2018, states that Sanatan Sanstha members followed militant Hindutva ideology guided by the group’s publication Kshatra Dharma Sadhana.

One witness turned hostile during the ongoing trial in May 2025, but the SIT maintains that missing Malegaon accused played a crucial role in creating a trained ideological cell.