Barely two weeks after the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) made a major breakthrough in a right-wing terror plot in the state, arresting three persons from Nalasopara and Pune respectively, investigations have revealed the involvement of a 30-year-old resident from Barve Nagar, Ghatkopar West. The accused, identified as Avinash Anant Pawar alias Ajit Dada, is the first person to be arrested from the city and the fifth to be booked in the case. Pawar, who is employed as a pipe-fitter with Mazgaon Dock Limited (MDL), the company that builds ships and major submarines for the Indian Navy, is likely to have been involved in making and assembling crude bombs, which could have been used to wreak havoc in the state, said ATS officials.

Meanwhile, Pawar's neighbours in Ghatkopar have come out in his support, claiming that he was only a "social worker", who was being framed in the case. They even locked his home to "prevent tampering of evidence".