Two persons were arrested on Saturday in connection with the recovery of a live bomb from Sancoale on October 16 when the Margao blast took place, killing two members of a right-wing Hindu group.
Vinayak Patil (27) and Vinay Talekar (30) were allegedly involved in planting a bomb, which was defused before it went off, at 20 km away from Margao, police said.
The bomb at Sancoale was in series with Margao explosives, which triggered pre-maturely killing two Sanatan Saunstha activists — Malgonda Patil and Yogesh Naik — who were allegedly ferrying explosives on the scooter.
Both the accused were arrested by the SIT in Margao where they were called for the interrogation, Deputy Inspector General of Police Ravindra Yadav told reporters here.
Yadav confirmed that both were residents of Ponda town, which has Sanatan Saunstha’s ashram and have their roots in Karnataka. Talekar is from Karwar, while Patil from Belgaum.
Police have refused to divulge more on the arrests claiming that the formal statement would be issued soon.
The IED kept in a pick-up van at Sancoale did not explode as the bomb disposal squad (BDS) had defused the explosives, half an hour after Margao blast.
The driver of the van had intimated police about the suspicious bag. Gelatin sticks, a detonator, timer and a power circuit were recovered from the bag.
Police have already named Malgonda Patil and Yogesh Naik, who died in the blast, as prime accused in the case.
