TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
PONDA: Former Home Minister Ravi Naik has denied any rivalry with PWD and Transport Minister Sudin Dhavlikar in connection with the Sanatan Sanstha, which had been linked to the Margao bomb blast in 2009.
Sanatan Sanstha members were recently acquitted by a special court in connection with the Margao bomb blast case and according to reports, the Sanatan’s counsel had accused Ravi Naik of dragging the Sanatan Sanstha into the case.
“Who said Dhavlikar is my rival? We talk whenever we meet each other at functions. I don’t know for what reasons I am being blamed for no fault of mine,” said Naik, while addressing a news briefing at Ponda on Friday.
Referring to the incident (2009 Margao bomb blast) and the subsequent action by the State machinery, Naik claimed that, “according to reports, there were efforts to trigger bombs at a couple of more locations in the State and the State machinery acted irrespective of which party was ruling at the time.”
“We (MLAs) are just policy makers and the entire role (investigation) was of the police department. I did not interfere in the police investigation process,” he said.
“It was a pre-planned mission and could have resulted in communal violence. The case was later handed over to NIA from SIT. It’s surprising that my name now features as a conspirator of dragging Sanatan Sanstha into the case. I feel that my name is being dragged with the sole intention to malign my political image,” clarified Naik.
