Sachin Andhure (in dark blue shirt) revealed details about the weapon that was used in Narendra Dabholkar's murder.

The Hindu terror module that was busted by the Maharashtra Anti-terror Squad (ATS) and led to the arrests of five persons and one by the CBI was done so on a tip off by the Vikhroli Unit of ATS.

Police officer Vishwas Rao, attached to the Vikhroli Unit, had been probing a possible terror module. The investigation started with a just a mobile number that led ATS officials to three persons and finally to Vaibhav Raut.

Raut, an active member of Govansh Raksha Samiti, pursued the Hindu extremist agenda and took part in protests in Nalasopara. He was seen working for Sanatan Sanstha. Raut has submitted memorandums to several political leaders protesting against the proposed ban on Sanatan Sanstha.

His pictures can still be seen on Sanatan's website but Sanatan office bearers have denied Raut works for them. A huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from Raut's residence.

His arrest led ATS officers to two other members of the same group, Sharad Kalaskar and Sudhanva Gondhalekar.

Kalaskar was arrested from Nalasopara while Gondhalekar was nabbed from Pune. ATS officers again recovered arms and ammunition as well as raw material to make bombs from Gondhalekar's residence.

Kalaskar is a big catch as he helped ATS officers when he revealed major details in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in 2013. Kalaskar, who has been closely associated with Hindu Janjagriti Samiti for over nine years, was directly involved in Dabholkar's murder.

He revealed the name of another person involved in the murder - the alleged shooter named Sachin Andure. Both Kalaskar and Andure worked closely with Dr Virendrasinh Tawde who was the mastermind behind the killings of Dabholkar and CPI leader Govind Pansare.

Andure was arrested by CBI on August 18 and remanded to police custody till August 26. Andure further revealed details about the alleged weapon used by them in Dabholkar's murder and it was recovered from his brother-in-law's residence in Aurangabad this week. A sword and empty cartridges were also recovered.

Andure, who did his Master's in Commerce, worked as a salesman in a garment shop in Aurangabad. He was arrested from Pune and had been in touch with Gondhalekar, Kalaskar and Raut.

Gondhalekar is said to be the group leader who directed his associates like Raut, Kalaskar and Andure to carry out the attacks as he received orders from his bosses.

The investigation at this stage points out that the group members had been directly or indirectly working under one umbrella organisation - the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, a sister organisation of Sanatan Sanstha.

The group planned to carry out attacks across the state and had undergone training in Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. Some of the members, including Kalaskar, Gondhalekar and Raut, had been to Karnataka on many occasions.

Scholar MM Kalburgi was shot after Pansare in 2015 while journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot last year.

Links between the accused in Lankesh's murder and this group is also being established. The arrested accused's role is also under the scanner.

The arrests of the four conjured up more names. One Srikant Pangarkar who was associated with Shiv Sena till 2012 and was a corporator in Jalna Municipal Corporation was also arrested last week.

Pangarkar again is associated with HJS and is said to be a facilitator and financer of the group.

The fifth arrest by ATS was that of Avinash Pawar, a resident of Ghatkopar in Mumbai. This is the first arrest in this module from Mumbai.

Pawar was reportedly associated with Shiv Pratishthan organisation run by Sambhaji Bhide from Sangli.

Shiv Pratishthan has been involved in right wing Hindu extremist activities in Sangli and nearby areas. Bhide's name also came up in the Bhima-Koregaon riots. Shiv Pratishthan denied having any links with Pawar.

Also read: Chorus for ban on Sanatan Sanstha grows louder

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