Maharashtra CM Fadnavis under death threats from 'Maoist' group

Mumbai : There is tension in Maharashtra as the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gets threatening from the Maoist group. The security has been increased after his office received two anonymous letters in which a group claiming to be Maoist warned to kill him and his family members.

Talking about the situation, the CM said, “We have received threat letters and handed them over to the police. They will look into the matter and take appropriate action.”

The letter mentions an anti-Naxalite operation carried out in Gadchiroli, where 39 Maoists were killed. “We are inspired by Marx’s ideology and killing people belonging to this thought will not wipe out the ideology. We will avenge the Gadchiroli tragedy,” reads one of the letters. The content of the other is similar. The C-60 squad of the Maharashtra police and the CRPF killed 40 Maoists in an encounter in Gadchiroli in the last week of April.

The source and location from which the anonymous letters were sent is yet to be known, said a senior official. Both the letters were received by the CMO in Mantralaya a few days ago. An official said reporters that security in the state secretariat has been tighten and preparations has been made to ease the tensed environment.

Meanwhile, the opposition has demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter. “It’s a serious issue. The chief minister’s security should be immediately boosted,” said the Congress’s state spokesperson Sachin Sawant on Friday.

The documents that police have recovered will be presented in court, said Fadnavis, who was in Andheri to attend the fourth anniversary of Metro operations. He also said, “We have recovered several pieces of proof following raids on the urban Naxalite front. Internal communication we have recovered instructs cadre to eliminate Prime Minister Narendra Modi in action similar to what helped kill (former PM) Rajiv Gandhi.”