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Planning to get married in Goa? www.weddingsetcgoa.com Making your 'dream wedding' possible ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Was it an irony of sorts? They came tried but it appears to have back fired. The needle of suspicion points to one dead Shri Malagouda Patil and the other grievously injured Yogesh Naik (both hailing from Maharashtra who had come to Ramnathi Pornda ) in a blast that occured Behind the Our Lady of Grace Church Opp the Grace Nursing Home Margao at exactly 2147 hrs.yesterday 16/10/2009 Both these are alleged to be members of the Sanatan Saunstha Group a Maharashtra based organisation which has its local branch in Ramnathi Bandiwade Ponda Goa. At the time of the blast there was a private function in the Our Lady of Grace Church Hall underway according to the Parish Priest Fr Cleto, who spoke to this writer. They had heard a blast just as they were about to finish their supper , but paid little heed to it as the air was filled with a cacophony of similar blasts as each Narkasura float passed by.. The traffic was diverted behind the Church so that the participating Narkasura floats could use the road in front of the Collectorate via Kamat Hotel. But the clergy did not have an inkling of suspicion about the blast,until they heard some commotion upstairs in the Hall and headed straight way to witness the melee down below from the terrace. Across the road on the western side near the Collectorate there was a heavy bandobust of police including traffic policemen and the crowds were surging behind the "Narkasuras' competing in the festival culminating near the Margao Municipal Building square where a tastefully decorated stage had the Guest of honour the MLA Margao and Chief Minister Shri Digambar V Kamat and others assembled. At the time of the blast this writer had just moved towards Aquem to attend a private function when frentic calls emerged on the cellphone from the print media enquiring of the veracity of the blast reports. By that time the Quick Reaction Team of the Indian Reserve Battalion a special force created to offset or interact during such distress times had already cordoned off the area. A call to the Grace Nursing Hospital by this writer confirmed that there was indeed a blast just in front of their Hospital near the Shogun garments shop ( now relocated elsewhere ) but there was no further elaboration. It was good that there was no panic created by the Police as this would have resulted in a commotion and possible mishapw with the crowds mainly of women children running. A nun who spoke to this writer early this morning at the venue thanked profusely "Our Lady of Grace" for her divine intervention in what could otherwise been a grave tragedy if the explosive material found its way in one of the Narkasura float truck and had exploded as it reached the venue of the main celebrations. All activities were called off before midnight when the effigies are consigned to flames and the crowds moved home. Fireworks were avoided so as to give the Police the chance to identify any serial blasts thereafter. No one was allowed to move the vehicles after the QRT and the Bomb defusing team arrived as even the scooter GA/05/A-7800 partially damaged alongwith another were glowing in embers. The other vehicles both motorcars were slightly damaged due the implosion caused being in the vicinity and have been left untouched for investigations. The area remains partially cordoned off to avert the influx of curious onlookers who began visiting the site since twilight broke.. Meanwhile the same group that is targetted to have been behind the blast has released a quarter page coloured ad on the local English daily reveals that the Sanathan Saunstha Ponda have achieved their first missiom of production of " Dharmashikshan" imparting VCD's for transmission on the "Sri Sankara" TV Channel. They have now embarked on their next goal ---- to impart Dharmashikshan" to millions of Hindus in their homes through television serials on spirituality and to produce programmes to disseminate Sanatan's research on spirituality throughout the world----- and for this they need a studio and modern equipment a project which costs nearly 9 crores. They have therefore appealed for donations which are tax exempt to be sent in the name of "Sanatan Sanstha" to be sent to their office at"Sanatan Ashram "24/B at Ponda +0832 2312712. A shopkeeper from near the vicinity of the blast was surprised to read the contents of the advertisement. A Hindu Brahmin himself he wondered what type of education the Sanstha could give hindus when they follow the path of destruction and evident blood shed. The police have since raided their newly constructed premises at Bandiwade Ponda and until the time of writing there is discreet information that two more arrests have been effected and some incriminating evidence is emerging of the members involvement. This little known group made its appearance in Goa some years ago when their members dressed in full white outfit and yellow scarfs mainly from Maharashtra and some Goans of Maharastrian origin were selling their publication in Marathi language at the prominent places near schools bus stops etc . They have since stopped the sale of this publication in Goa. The group has been averse to festivities like Narkasura etc.and hence their apparent involvement in the blast.. There were other rumours doing the round that the Dhavalikar brothers from Marcaim and Priol constituency both of the MGP; one a Minister for Transport in the INC led coalition are believed to be related to the the owner of the scooter involved in the blast viz one Nishad Bhakle.In fact the reason apparently is that they hail from the Bhat Brahmin community.and they reside near the Mahalaxmi temple and the office of the Sanathan is located just near the Sneha Sadan (Home for the Aged) at Bandora.Other rumours allege that the CM has a soft corner for the Sanatan Saunstha while he was a Minister in the BJP led coalition government. Incidentally on the eve of Dipawali the effigy of Narkasura is consigned into flames. It also signifies the end of Vikram Samvat 2065 the Hindu calender year . Being a Friday there would be an apprehension in the minds of the people that it was the handiwork of some of our Moslem bretheren. But after the Malegaon Maharashtra blasts involving Sadhvi Pragya Singh it is clear that acts of terrorism conversions are not confined to fundamentalists of any one religion alone. . There was earlier apprehension that the blast could have been triggered by the unfavourable verdict by the Panaji Bench of the High Court of Bombay refusing to stay the ban orders imposed by the District Magistrates of North Goa and South Goa banning the entry of the President of the "Ram Sena" of Hubli based Shri Pramod Mutalik who was expelled from the Bajrang Dal and has recently spread the communal frenzy in Mangalore Karnataka and had even earlier threatened to prevent festivities on our Island of Anjediva since October, 2004 till date. This writer also spoke telephonically to some persons in Cortalim where it was reported that a similar blast was averted just meters away from the Shantadurga temple due to timely intervention of the bomb defusing squad when they got wind of the same. The Home Ministry appears to have taken stalk of the situation with the detection of the culprits of 5 of the 10 murdered persons of a total 18 reported missing persons since the last fortnight ending September and 11th October, 2009 since the first case of murder and burning of the victim came to light. That it was the handiwork of a serial killer does not seem apparent with the arrests made by the police. Though a red alert has been sounded and security forces have been requisitioned keeping in mind the Deepawali vacations IFFI 2009 the Feast of St Francis Xavier , Christmas and New Year ,there is no cause for alarm but one needs to be sensitive to the surroundings. The red alert may have an initial bearing on the tourist inflow now that the national print and electronic audio visual media have descending on the state giving the event a national coverage. It is a matter of satisfaction that the Police acted in a commendable way both in their attempts to detect the serial murders . With the 24 weeks tourist season registering the first entourage of charter tourists from Russia on 14th October, 2009 there should be no room for complacency . GODFREY J. I. GONSALVES, BORDA, MARGAO, 403 602, GOA. (INDIA) +91 98221 58584 (24 HRS) [email protected] Try the new Yahoo! India Homepage. Click here. http://in.yahoo.com/trynew
