Bardoli woman arrested for threatening Gujarat minister

Surat: A 35-year-old woman from Bardoli town was arrested on Sunday for allegedly threatening Gujarat’s minister for social justice and empowerment, Ishwar Parmar, by writing anonymous letters asking for Rs 1.5 crore.
The woman Pravina Maisuria had allegedly threatened to set ablaze Parmar’s house in Bardoli if he did not pay the money.
Parmar is a first-time BJP MLA from Bardoli constituency and holds a Cabinet rank.
The first time she had dropped a letter at Parmar’s Bardoli office was on June 28. In the letter that was received by Bhavin Parmar, who works in the office, she asked for Rs 2 crore citing severe financial hardship. However, since no other details were mentioned and the letter was anonymous, the minister did not take it seriously, but asked his office to search for the woman. However, Parmar had lodged a complaint with Bardoli police station on July 15 when the woman dropped the second letter at local BJP worker Suresh Parmar’s house in Bardoli’s Shastrinagar locality. In the letter, she made several accusations against the minister which were defamatory in nature. She also threatened to kill his son, mother and other family members by setting his house in Bardoli on fire and said she would ‘expose’ Parmar if he did not pay her Rs 1.5 crore.
Rupal Solanki, deputy superintendent of police, Surat (rural), said, “Preliminary interrogation suggests that Maisuria wrote these letters as she was in dire need of money. She also looks mentally disturbed. We will be seeking her custody for further questioning on Monday.” Police have booked the woman under IPC 387 (extortion), 500 (defamation) and 506(2 (criminal intimidation).
Officials said that they are not ruling out any possibilities and investigating the case from all angles.