3 detained from Baramati

Three people from Baramati in Maharashtra, who were detained by the Goa police on Saturday for questioning in connection with the October 16 blast at Madgaon, were let off on Sunday. Debasish Panigrahi reports.

Three people from Baramati in Maharashtra, who were detained by the Goa police on Saturday for questioning in connection with the October 16 blast at Madgaon, were let off on Sunday.

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No one from Maharashtra has been arrested in connection with the blast so far, said the Goa police.

AV Deshpande, spokesperson for the Goa police, said on Sunday that the trio, who was picked up from Khanduj in Baramati taluka (250 km from Mumbai) on Saturday, were “allowed to go” on Sunday following their questioning.

“We verified some facts with them concerning our (blast) investigation. Their statement was recorded and they were allowed to go,” Deshpande said. He refused to disclose the identity of the trio. He was evasive when asked to specify the trio’s suspected links with the blast. “The investigation details are sensitive,” he said.

Sources in the Goa police told Hindustan Times that the trio’s name had surfaced after the arrest of Vinayak Patil (27) and Vinay Talekar from Ponda on Saturday. Vinayak is a close associate of Malgunda Patil, who was killed when the bomb he was carrying exploded at Madgaon. Vinayak and Malgunda are allegedly members of Sanatan Sanstha.

While questioning Vinayak and Vinay, the Goa police learnt that the three SIM cards found on them were from Maharashtra which had been given to them by the trio from Khanduj, who are also members of the Sanstha.

They had given the SIM cards to the duo from Ponda so that they could use them during their visit to Maharashtra. Vinayak was allegedly using those SIM cards to communicate with Malgunda before the blast, sources added.

Deshpande made it clear that “so far” no arrest had been made from outside Goa, including Maharashtra, over the blast.
“Our investigation is on,” Deshpande said adding that teams from the Goa police are camping in Maharashtra from where the explosives and timer devices had been brought to make the bomb that exploded at Madgaon.