Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. (Express photo)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis received two threat letters, allegedly from Maoist organisations, sources in the state Home Department told PTI on Friday. The letters were received by the chief minister’s office a week ago and have been handed over to the police, the sources added.
“The letters came after the recent anti-Naxal operations in Gadchiroli, in which 39 Maoists were killed. The letters have been handed over to the police for further investigations,” the sources said. It also said that both letters mentioned the Gadchiroli encounters, and threatened Fadnavis and his family members.
Reacting to the letters, Fadnavis told ANI, “Several facts have surfaced in the letter. Police have seized it and it will be presented before the court. A probe is underway to find more links.”
He added, “To say more than this at the moment won’t be right. But it is now certain that while armed forces are fighting Naxals in forests, a large group is trying to misguide people in urban areas as well.”
Following the threat letter, the security of the CM’s kin will now be augmented. According to sources, the family will now be given security cover under the Y plus category. While the CM already enjoys security under the Z plus category, however, this will be tightened depending on the places he visits.
Post the threat letter, security of Maharashtra CM’s @Dev_Fadnavis kin augmented. They will now have a Y plus security cover. CM already enjoys Z plus security but his security specially the places he visit will be upgraded- Police Sources.@IndianExpress
— Rashmi Rajput (@RashmiRajput123) June 8, 2018
Prior to this, Pune Police had claimed to seize an email which hinted at plans to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi in “another Rajiv Gandhi type incident” by “targeting his roadshows”.
While seeking police custody of the five persons who were arrested for alleged Maoist links and were booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, district government pleader Ujjwala Pawar told a Pune court about information gathered from the material seized from those picked up.
Police sources had claimed that “there is mention in this (seized) communication that Modi has successfully established BJP government in more than 15 states, that if this pace continues, then it would mean immense trouble for the Maoist party on all fronts, and that they were thinking along the lines of another Rajiv Gandhi type incident… that targeting his roadshows could be an effective strategy”.