The Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) Maharashtra seems to have tightened its noose around the neck of the Hindutva extremist organisations like Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) and Sanatan Sanstha (SS) for their alleged role into the Thane bomb blasts.
In the bomb explosion at the Gadkari Rangayatan Auditorium in Thane seven people were wounded. In the bombing detonator, gelatine rods and timer were used. A bomb was planted at Vinoba Bhave theatre at Navi Mumbai, which was later diffused.
Earlier the ATS had arrested four persons: Mangesh Dinkar Nikam, Ramesh Hanumant Gadkari, Santosh Angre, and Vikram Bhave for planting bombs at the Vishnu Das Bhave Auditorium in Vashi and Gadkari Rangayatan Auditorium in Thane in May. The arrested persons were associated with Hindutva groups Janjagruti Samiti and Sanatan Sanstha.
On June 23 the ATS arrested another person in connection with the blast named Hemant Chalke. He too, like his other friends, is associated with the Hindutva fundamentalist groups. His arrest was followed by the raid by the ATS at the native places of the two accused, Mangesh Dinkar Nikam, and Vikram Bhave, in Satara district and in Warsai village in Pen (Raigad district) respectively.
The ATS seized there huge amount of arms, ammunitions, and explosive materials including two revolvers, 92 bullets, huge quantity of ammonium nitrate powder, 20 detonators, 19 gelatine sticks, timers, voltage metres, detonators, two radio circuits and remote controllers. The Maharashtra police also arrested one Hari Bhav Devkar for trying to hide and destroy the explosives.
According to the Maharashtra ATS, Hemant Chalke is an educated person, an electro-homoeopathist. He is being accused of surveying the Bhave theatre of Vashi with the intention of making it as one of his bombing targets.
The name of Hemant has been spilled out by the four people arrested in the Thane blast case. According to the senior inspector of the ATS Wokherly Bheem Dewar Athor, Hemant has been working for the Sanathan Sanstha, which is an organisation run under the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti. In fact he was accused in the case of a bomb blast in the area of Ratnagiri, but later on the same year, the court freed him as not guilty.
“According to our investigation report, Chalke, who hails from Chiplun, had helped the other accused by accompanying them for the surveillance of places to be targeted,” a senior police officer said. Chalke is reported to be staying in the ashram run by HJS in Panvel.
With Chalke’s arrest the total number of those held so far in the connection with the case goes to six persons.
The arrests were enough for Chief Minister Deshmukh to point fingers at the possibility of Hindutva groups being involved in subversive activities too. “Normally, when such incidents take place, a particular community is suspected,” the Chief Minister said in a statement late on June 16. “But the arrest of two (now six) people belonging to a Hindu organisation proves that such suspicions are baseless. Criminals don’t belong to any religion.”
According to the ATS, what the investigators are trying to look for is what kind of relations all these people arrested till now, Mangesh Dinkar Nikam, Ramesh Hanumant Gadkari, Santosh Angre, Vikram Bhave, Hari Bhav Devkar andHemant Chakle have with the HJS.
It is a noteworthy point here that Mangesh Nikam, an accused in the Thane Bomb Blast has also been involved in the Ratan giri bomb blast.
The Head of the Anti-Terror Squad, Hemant Kirkire points out that although they made the case solid by seizing upon the explosives, arms and ammunitions, lots of questions are yet too be raised. He said there are lots of information which are yet to be known about these organisations. The most important of them being the source of funding of theses organizations, and their actual aim in being active in India.