The government of Goa on Sunday formed a special investigating team (SIT) to probe the Diwali-eve blast in Margao in which a member of Sanatan Sanstha, a right-wing extremist Hindu organisation, was killed.

Superintendent of Police Omprakash Kurtarkar will head the SIT.

A low-intensity crude bomb went off around 10 pm Friday at the venue of a crowded Diwali celebration in Margao where Chief Minister Digambar Kamat was present, police said.

The bomb was in a scooter parked near Grace Church Marg. Two men, Malgounda Patil and Yogesh Naik, were badly wounded in the explosion. Patil, 28, later died of his injuries.

Police suspect the men were planning to plant the bomb but it went off before they could get to their target. Security was stepped up after the blast, and in a combing operation, the police found two more crude bombs near the scooter.

A third bomb was found in Sancoale town, about 20 km from Margaon, close to an effigy of the demon Narkasur, which is set ablaze during Diwali celebrations to symbolize the victory of good over evil.

A team of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Sunday searched the Sanstha office in Nesai near Margao town to investigate its links with the alleged perpetrators of the 2008 Malegaon blasts. Several officials of the Sanstha who were detained yesterday, were called in again for questioning.

The Goa Police are learnt to have seized the hard disks of computers at the Sanstha’s ashram-cum-headquarters in Ramnathi village in Ponda tehsil. They also raided the Sanstha printing press in Nivse near Margao.

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