Protest march taken out to protest arrests in Maharashtra explosives case

Mumbai, Aug 18: Local right-wing groups took out a protest march seeking the release of Vaibhav Raut, arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra police in an explosives seizure case, at Nallasopara near Mumbai.

The ATS had arrested Raut on August 10 and claimed to have seized a huge quantity of explosive materials from his house and shop in Nallasopara, allegedly meant to be used to carry out blasts in the state.

The protest march against his arrest was organised by some local Hindu organisations, an ATS official said here.

Over two thousand people participated in the march from Sopara village to Nallasopara railway station this afternoon, he said.

Raut allegedly ran a pro-cow protection outfit in Nallasopara. He was arrested alongwith Sharad Kalaskar and Sudhanva Gondhalekar.

Alleging that the trio were planning to carry out blasts in the state ahead of Independence day and Bakri-Eid festival, the ATS had said it would also probe if they had any connection with the killings of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare and journalist Gauri Lankesh.