Maharashtra explosives case: ATS arrests two more men

Mumbai: The Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra police on Saturday arrested two more persons in connection with the seizure of explosives and an alleged conspiracy to carry out blasts in the state, an official said.

News agency ANI reported that the two have been sent to ATS custody till September 17 by a Mumbai court.

This takes the number of arrested persons in the case to seven. Following the interrogation of those held earlier, ATS detained Vasudev Suryawanshi (29) and Vijay alias Bhaiyya Lodhi (32) from Sakri in Jalgaon district of North Maharashtra on Friday, an ATS official said. They were arrested after questioning. 

The ATS suspects that the duo provided vehicles to other accused to conduct reconnaissance of various places. Some incriminating documents including maps were also seized from their possession and the duo would be produced before a court on Sunday, the ATS official said. 

Last month, the ATS arrested Vaibhav Raut, Sharad Kalaskar, Sudhanwa Gondhalekar, Shrikant Pangarkar and Avinash Pawar following seizure of explosive materials and arms from various places in the state. Some of the accused were allegedly linked to radical Hindu groups, ATS had said. Among other things, they were planning to target a western music festival in Pune, it had said.