The Hindu outfit blamed for the October 16 Goa blast has denied the charge even as the government talked of a possible ban on it and a probe into its foreign links.
The Sanatan Sanstha said on Monday it was “against any violent or unconstitutional act”.
“We are not the LeT (Lashkar-e-Tayyeba) or the Naxalites. We’re not a terrorist organisation that should be banned,” spokesperson Abhay Vartak said at a press conference in Panvel, 22 km from Mumbai, on Monday.
Earlier, state’s top legal official Subodh Kantak had said, “We are examining whether the outfit can be banned.”
A man was killed and another injured when explosives they were carrying on a scooter exploded on a street in Margao, a town in south Goa, 35 km from state capital Panaji.
Vartak accepted that Malgondi Patil, who died in the blast, was a Sanstha member but denied that Nishad Bakhle, who the scooter allegedly belonged to, was linked to the organisation.
The government is also probing the foreign links of the Sanstha. “Some foreigners often visited the ashram at Ramnathi... They were not even submitting their C forms to the police,” Home Minister Ravi Naik was quoted as saying by the PTI.
{{/usCountry}}The government is also probing the foreign links of the Sanstha. “Some foreigners often visited the ashram at Ramnathi... They were not even submitting their C forms to the police,” Home Minister Ravi Naik was quoted as saying by the PTI.
{{/usCountry}}Reacting to reports that Jyoti Dhavalikar, wife of the state transport minister, was a Sanstha office-bearer, Naik said the police would examine all links with the Sanstha'
The police have said there were similarities between the Margao blast and those at Thane and Panvel in 2008.
Some Sanstha members, suspected to be involved in the Margao blast, were arrested by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad for the 2008 blasts. “But it is premature to say the same people or organisation is involved,” said Ravindra Yadav, Goa’s deputy inspector general of police.
(With PTI inputs)