The Bombay High Court in Goa has upheld the acquittal of the six people accused of obtaining, assembling and transporting a bomb to Margao in South Goa, where it exploded prematurely and killed two people who were allegedly carrying it on the eve of Diwali in 2009.
The two deceased, Malgonda Patil and Yogesh Naik, allegedly carried the bomb on their scooter with the intention of placing it in a location where a Diwali competition was taking place on October 16, 2009. In addition to Patil and Naik, who died While transporting the bomb, no one else was injured in the explosion that took place behind Grace Church in Margao.
In addition to Patil and Naik, the NIA indicted six others, including Vinay Talekar, Dhananjay Ashtekar, Prashant Ashtekar, Vinayak Patil, Prashant Juvekar and Dilip Mazgaonkar, all from Maharashtra and with connections to Sanatan Sanstha. They were charged by the criminal branch of the Goa Police. Later, the case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency.
“Today the HC has passed sentence [in the] Appeal filed by the NIA challenging the judgment handed down by a special judge that acquitted the accused in the case of the explosion. The Superior Court has considered [the case] in greater detail [and has] now he argued that the benefit of the doubt is given, “said NIA defender Pravin Faldessai.
“The special judge had said that there were malafides (bad faith) on the part of the investigating agency … those comments are now deleted,” he added.
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A total of eleven people were named as defendants in the case, including the two who died when the bomb exploded prematurely. In addition to Naik, who died, everyone else came from Maharashtra and was associated with Sanatan Sanstha, a far-right organization accused of organizing the bomb blast for the purpose of disrupting the Narakasur celebrations that take place on the eve. Diwali. Three defendants escape. Only six defendants were tried.
The day before Diwali, giant effigies of the demon king Narakasur are erected with pomp and loud music before they are sent to the flames in the early morning to signify the victory of good over evil.
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“We had to show that this particular Sanstha had the motive behind this explosion so that an (atmosphere of) terror was formed in the state of Goa and the Union of India, but the court said there was (no) evidence and there is no hard evidence that we can present in court, ”added Faldessai.
“What we had presented to the special judge was that their intention was to stop this competition not because they did not want competition at all, but rather that their intention was to give more importance to Lord Krishna and not Narakasur,” Faldessai said.
“Theirs was that Sanskrit Hindu should be protected and Diwali should be celebrated in a better way and not in Narakasur competitions, etc.,” he said.
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