By IANS,
Panaji: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Pravin Togadia is expected to visit Goa Monday for an overnight visit, a police official said.
Togadia’s visit to Goa assumes significance with the involvement of right-wing Hindu outfit Sanatan Sanstha activists in the Diwali eve bomb blasts in Margao, a town in south Goa, 35 km from here.
“We have just been informed by the Belgaum police about his arrival. He will be reaching Goa Monday evening and will stay in Goa overnight,” Superintendent of Police Tony Fernandes told IANS.
Togadia, whose VHP is a part of the Sangh Parivar, is known for his volatile oratory on religious issues.
Police are keeping their fingers crossed over his visit.
“We have not been informed about his itinerary yet. As soon as we have it, we will chalk out a security plan,” a police official told IANS.
Togadia has earlier been banned by district administrations in Panchmahals district in Gujarat (2002) and Thiruvananthpuram in Kerala (2004), both times as a precautionary measure in order to prevent him from provoking communal sentiments.
Two people, Malgunda Patil and his accomplice Yogesh Naik both members of the Sanatan Sanstha, died in an explosion while ferrying improvised explosive devices (IEDs) through a crowded area in Margao Oct 16.
Three other IEDs, two of which were found unexploded near the blast site and the other about 30 km away near Vasco, did not go off.
The police have raided the Sanatan Sanstha ashram in Ponda, 30 km from here, twice since the blast, to look for more clues, as part of the blast case investigations.