Court acquits Sanatan Sanstha members in 2009 Goa blast

A special court Tuesday acquitted all six members of the Hindu right-wing Sanatan Sanstha accused of carrying out an IED blast, which killed two, at a Diwali function in Goa in 2009.

In its order, the Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here acquitted Vinayak Talekar, Vinayak Ashtekar, Dilip Mangainkar, Dhananjay Ashtekar, Prashant Juvekar and Vinay Patil, some of whom were arrested by Goa Police and later by NIA officers in an investigation which lasted for nearly two years.

Two other accused - Malgonda Patil and Yogesh Naik - who ferried the IED to a Diwali pandal in Margao, 30 km from here, died when the device accidentally exploded.

Barring Naik, all the other accused hail from Maharashtra, who frequently visited the Sanatan Sanstha ashram located in the temple town of Ponda, 30 km from Panaji.