Margao blast case accused surrenders in court

One of the five absconding accused in the Margao blast case has surrendered before a local court. Public Prosecutor S B Faria told PTI that Prashant Ashtekar, a native of Ratnagiri (Maharashtra), surrendered before the sessions court on Tuesday.

He is among the five accused wanted in connection with the conspiracy to carry out serial blasts in the state on Diwali eve last year. The National Investigation Agency, which is probing the Margao blast, has already arrested Prashant's younger brother Dhananjay.

Two persons, Malgonda Patil and Yogesh Naik, were killed while ferrying explosives in Margao town on October 16, 2009.

The police has already arrested four people -- Vinayak Patil, Vinay Talekar, Dhananjay Ashtekar and Dilip Mangaonkar -- in connection with the case.

Prashant, who reportedly shifted the hard-disk of his computer which was used to prepare circuit diagrams, was wanted by the NIA.

Before surrendering to the court, Prashant had told a newspaper that he shifted the hard disk as "the computer belonged to him."