Three youths, including a ‘gau-rakshak’ associated with right-wing outfits, were arrested by the Maharashtra unit of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), who foiled their plan to carry out terror attacks.
The arrests come a few days ahead of Independence Day celebrations and Bakrid, when security across the nation is tightened.
The three suspects were identified as Vaibhav Raut, Sharad Kalaskar and Sudhnava Ghondhalekar.
During the raids, the police seized detonators and gunpowder — used for making bombs. Besides, a dozen crude bombs too were seized. Wire bundles, resistors, transistors, batteries, multimeters, switches and circuits, connectors, gelatin sticks, diagrams and some literature too were recovered. The seized material has been sent for analysis to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Mumbai.
Initial investigations revealed that they were planning to carry out terror activities in Mumbai, Pune, Satara, Solapur and Nalasopara. While Raut and Kalaskar were arrested from Nalasopara in Palghar district, Ghondalekar was arrested from Pune.
The trio was produced before a magistrate court at Boiwada, which remanded them in police custody till August 18.
“We have arrested three persons and they were planning a terror activity,” said additional director general of police Atulchandra Kulkarni, the chief of Maharashtra-ATS.
The operation was carried out after discreet information from an informant, following which plainclothesmen kept a tab on the suspects. In the wee hours of Friday, Raut was picked up from Bandarali village in Nalasopara, nearly 58 km away from central Mumbai. Based on his information, two others were tracked down.
Raut used his estate agency office to store and make the bombs — and the office could just be a front to cover up the clandestine act, the police
said. All of them were said to be associated with right-wing outfits, however, the ATS officials have refused to comment.
Raut, from whose residence the bomb-making material was seized, was closely associated with Sanatan Sanstha.