Amol Kale, a key accused in the murder of Bangalore journalist Gauri Lankesh, has been sent to the custody of Maharashtra’s anti-terrorism squad for questioning in connection with the Nalasopara arms case.

The ATS had in August seized arms and explosives from the Nalasopara home of radical Hindu activist Vaibhav Raut and alleged a plot to carry out terror strikes across Maharashtra.

Kale and fellow Gauri murder accused Amit Baddi and Ganesh Mistre were produced before a Mumbai sessions court on Saturday and remanded in ATS custody till October 12. They had been arrested earlier by Karnataka police’s special investigation team probing the journalist’s murder.

“The threads in these cases (Nalasopara and the murders of Gauri last year and three rationalists in Maharashtra and Karnataka between 2013 and 2015) overlap,” an ATS officer said.

Investigators suspect a Goa-headquartered organisation, the Sanatan Sanstha, of being linked to all these cases.

Sources said that Kale had provided logistical support and arms to Gauri’s shooters and is suspected of involvement in the murders of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi. ATS sources said the leads on the Nalasopara conspiracy had come from Kale and his diary.

The probe into the arms case later led to the arrest of Sachin Andure, the man who allegedly shot Dabholkar.

Two others arrested by the Karnataka SIT, Bharat Kurne and Sujeet Kumar, had been sent to Maharashtra ATS custody last month.

“Both Kurne and Kumar took arms training with those arrested in the Nalasopara case,” a source said.

The ATS has arrested several people in the Nalasopara case, including two of Raut’s associates, Sudhanva Gondhalekar and Sharad Kalaskar.

“We need to interrogate Kale and the others about the extent of their involvement in the Nalasopara conspiracy,” an ATS officer said.