In hiding, Goa blast accused says can’t run on, will give up

Speaking to The Indian Express, one of the absconding accused in the Goa blast case has said he can't be constantly on the run and would be surrendering before the court at the earliest.


Prashant Ashtekar, 23, also admitted to have played a role in removing the hard disk of the computer being used by his brother Dhananjay, which the police claim had vital information about the circuits being prepared for engineering last October's Goa blast. Dhananjay was arrested in the case six months ago.

"I learnt about the charges slapped against me from newspapers. I can't be evading the police for a long time. I would be surrendering before the court soon and am hopeful of getting discharged," said Prashant.

On October 16, a bomb had gone off in a scooter in the commercial town of Margao in Goa, killing two Sanatan Sanstha activists Malgounda Patil and Yogesh Naik. Later, Vinayak Taklekar, an MBA who worked as an assistant HR manager with a seven-star hotel in Goa, Vinayak Patil, Dhananjay and Dilip Mangoankar were arrested. Prashant Ashtekar, Prashant Juvekar, Sarang Akolkar and Jaiprakash Putturu were declared wanted. Police believed the motive behind the blast was to spark communal violence in the state.