Mumbai: 8 crude bombs recovered from Sanatan Sansthan member's house

The ATS also recovered a large quantity of gunpowder and a detonator, which is enough to make two dozen bombs.

ABP News Grab

MUMBAI: Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Thursday recovered country-made bombs and raw material to make explosives from the house of Vaibhav Raut who is related to Sanatan Sansthan in Nalasopara. According to ABP News sources, the ATS also recovered a large quantity of gunpowder and a detonator, which is enough to make two dozen bombs. The Anti-Terrorism Squad has arrested Vaibhav Raut. The team was tracking Raut for the last few days and on Thursday evening, his house was raided. A forensic team and a dog squad have also been called for further investigation. On his Raut's arrest, his lawyer said, "Anti-Terrorism Squad has not intimidated us about arrest of Vaibhav Raut. Wonder what kind of law is being followed in this country & in Maharashtra. We'll take all legal steps". In a statement, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) termed Raut's arrest "Malegaon part II". The Malegaon case centres around the September 29, 2008 bomb explosion near Bhiku Chowk in the Muslim-dominated Malegaon town of Nashik district, which killed six people and injured 101 others. "Vaibhav Raut is a daring cow protector. He was active through an organisation- Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti - dedicated to the protection of cows," HJS state organiser Sunil Ghanvat said, adding, "He used to participate in the programmes and agitations organised through uniting Hindu organisations under the aegis of HJS." He, however, claimed that Raut had not participated in any of the programmes for the last few months. "The incidents of needless harassment of activists of Hindu organisations to implicate them in false cases, etc are not new any more. This has been amply proved through Malegaon case and the arrest of many innocent seekers of Sanatan Sanstha," Ghanvat said. "Considering the news being disseminated today, it has created doubt whether the arrest of Vaibhav Raut is an instance of Malegaon part II," he said. The Sanatan Sanstha is said to be a right-wing Hindu group in India. It was founded in 1999 by 'hypnotherapist' Jayant Balaji Athavale with the support of Bhaktaraj Maharaj. The group states its main aim of presenting spirituality in a scientific language for the curious (Jigyasu) and guiding seekers. (with additional input from agencies)