Agency took court permission, but report didn’t see the light
GUILHERME ALMEIDA
[email protected]
MARGAO: Mystery shrouds the outcome of investigations by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the role played by the Sanatan Sanstha if any, in the Margao bomb blast case and the funding of the organisation and its sister organisations.
On page 21, paragraph 17.22 of the chargesheet filed by the NIA against the accused in the court, the NIA was categorical in saying that investigation on the funding of the Sanatan and its other sister organisations and also the interstate ramifications of the incident were undertaken by the agency. That’s not all. The NIA had moved an application before the court in the initial stages of the trial seeking permission to carry out detailed investigations into the role played by the Sanatan, if any, into the case. Surprisingly, neither the Sanatan’s role nor the funding of the organisation has seen light of the day till date as the sensational case has finally ended in an acquittal.
Questions are being raised whether the premier investigating agency had pursued the investigations to a logical conclusion. When this reporter contacted Special Public Prosecutor, S B Faria to throw light on the NIA investigations into the Sanatan and its funding, he agreed that the investigation agency did not come out with any report on the Sanatan’s role and funding of the organisation and its sister organisations. He replied in the positive when pointed out that NIA had sought court permission to carry out investigations into the Sanstha’s role in the case, but feigned ignorance about any report being filed by the NIA in the court during the trial.
“It has not come to my knowledge whether the NIA had filed any report after investigations into Sanatan’s role and its funding. But, we did obtain permission from the court to investigate that angle, but no report has come the fore till date”, Faria said.
NIA’s silence on the Sanatan’s role is intriguing when former NIA Superintendent of Police Vijayan had maintained at the time of filing charge-sheet that the investigating agency was pursuing investigations into Sanatan’s links, if any, with the blast. The NIA chargesheet had linked the two deceased persons Malgonda Patil and Yogesh Naik to the Sanatan ashram. The NIA tried to establish that accused Malgonda was staying in a room alongwith other Sadaks for four years. Deceased Malgonda was associated with the outdoor department of the Sanatan, dealing with preaching on religious issues/education, sentiments and spiritual science.
Soon after the Special Court ordered acquittal of all the accused in the sensational case, Sanatan’s managing trustee Virendra Marathe had said that neither the investigating agency had made any case out against the organisation nor had the court made any comment on the participation of the Sanatan in the case.
