Mumbai ATS gets custody of 3 right wing Hindu organisation sympathisers huge ammunitions

Desai contended that the agency has recovered a huge amount of arms and ammunition along with material used for making a bomb and pistols from the accused since their arrest.

A special court on Saturday extended the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) custody of three alleged sympathisers of a right-wing Hindu organisation, arrested for possession of arms and ammunition, till August 28.

The ATS claims that they are yet to confront the accused with these notes , which are written in codes, and decode the messages that could uncover their entire conspiracy. (Representative Photo)

The agency informed the court on Saturday that they have recovered several handwritten notes and chits from Sudhanva Ghondhalekar, arrested by the ATS on August 10 along with others namely Sharad Kasalkar and Vaibhav Raut, alleged sympathisers of Sanatan Sanstha.

The ATS claims that they are yet to confront the accused with these notes , which are written in codes, and decode the messages that could uncover their entire conspiracy.

The chief public prosecutor Jaysingh Desai on Saturday sought their custody for 15 days under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which allows the investigating agency to seek custody up to 30 days.

The defence lawyer for the three, Sanjeev Punalekar, objected to the demand for custody for more than a period of 14 days as prescribed in Criminal Procedure Code. He claimed that the prosecution’s demand cannot be accepted as charges of UAPA is not applicable to the case.

The court, however, rejected the contention, observing that huge amount of arms and ammunition were recovered and that the agency needs to be given the opportunity to investigate the aim of the accused.

Desai contended that the agency has recovered a huge amount of arms and ammunition along with material used for making a bomb and pistols from the accused since their arrest.

The ATS also claims to have recovered CCTV footages showing Ghondhalekar carrying out suspicious activities in Natepute village of Solapur and several places of Pune. It also claims to have recovered number plates of vehicles, a bike and car from him.

“In eight days, we have just managed to recover articles on the statement of the accused. We are yet to ascertain the source of these material and its purpose. We need to confront the accused with these recoveries and interrogate if they were used in any other crime before,” Desai said.