NIA QUIZZES SANATAN CHIEF FOR GOA BLAST

Almost six months after the Goa bomb blast, in which two persons were killed, National Investigation Agency (NIA) questioned Jayant Athavale, chief of the right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha, linked to the explosion, and also raided the ashram. “An NIA team quizzed Sanatan Sanstha’s founder Jayant Athavale in his residential quarter,” Sanatan Prabhat, the outfit’s mouthpiece, said. Reports say that the NIA team was accompanied by Dhananjay Ashtekar, one of the four accused arrested in the case.  Sanstha’s Managing Trustee Virendra Marathe was also quizzed.  The agency personnel also raided the ashram and seized a few items, including CDs. The ashram’s server was checked by computer experts, who accompanied the team during the raid. It is notably that the Sanstha came under police scanner after the Margao blasts on October 16, 2009. Investigations led to the arrest of four persons, all owing allegiance to the outfit.