The office of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur, Maharashtra, received threats. The unidentified caller dialled Gadkari’s Public Relations office’s landline number in Khamla and demanded a Rs 10 crore ransom.
Earlier in January, a person claiming to be a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang made threatening calls to Nitin Gadkari’s home and office, demanding Rs 100 crore.
Three threat calls were received on the landline number of Gadkari’s PR office on January 14 between 11.25 am and 12.30 pm, prompting security to be increased at the Nagpur MP’s home and office. The caller, who identified himself as Jayesh Pujari, threatened to blow up the minister if his demand was not met.
Following an investigation, it was discovered that the caller is a Hindalga jail inmate who was previously sentenced to death by a court in a murder case. The phone call came from the prison.
In a separate incident, a man was arrested by Nagpur police for allegedly posting offensive comments about Gadkari on social media. The Nagpur Police Cyber Cell filed a case against the accused under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.
Dattatray Joshi, the accused, allegedly made references to Gadkari in posts that circulated on WhatsApp.