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Explosives case: Maharashtra ATS arrests two more men

Following the interrogation of those held earlier, ATS detained Vasudev Suryawanshi and Bhaiyya Lodhi from Sakri in Jalgaon district of North Maharashtra.

Explosives case: Maharashtra ATS arrests two more men

Representational Image Photo (Getty Images)

The Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra police on Saturday arrested two more persons in connection with the seizure of explosives and an alleged conspiracy to carry out blasts in the state, an official said.

This takes the number of arrested people in the case to seven.

Following the interrogation of those held earlier, ATS detained Vasudev Suryawanshi (29) and Vijay alias Bhaiyya Lodhi (32) from Sakri in Jalgaon district of North Maharashtra on Friday, an ATS official said. They were arrested after questioning.

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The ATS suspects that the duo provided vehicles to other accused to conduct reconnaissance of various places.

Some incriminating documents including maps were also seized from their possession and the duo would be produced before a court on Sunday, the ATS official said.

Read | Maharashtra ATS arrests right-wing activist after seizing explosives from his home

Last month, the ATS arrested Vaibhav Raut, Sharad Kalaskar, Sudhanwa Gondhalekar, Shrikant Pangarkar and Avinash Pawar following seizure of explosive materials and arms from various places in the state.

According to the investigators, all of them are linked with prominent Hindutva groups in Maharashtra.

Among other things, they were planning to target a western music festival in Pune, it had said.

Avinash Pawar (30) is an employee with a prominent government ship-building company. He was nabbed from Ghatkopar in north-east Mumbai last month.

Pawar has been charged under the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosives Substances Act, Explosives Act, pertaining to terror, criminal and terror conspiracies.

According to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, Pawar was linked with Hindutva organisations since over two years and the police had recovered a computer CPU, mobile phones and other articles from his home.

The ATS is exploring a multi-state right-wing terror network, probing their links with right-wing organisations in other states like Uttar Pradesh and Assam, and suspected connections with the sensational killings of several rationalists like Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M. M. Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

(With PTI inputs)

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