Mumbai Police have initiated a probe after the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday claimed that its chief Sharad Pawar has received death threats on social media.
A delegation of NCP workers led by Pawar’s daughter and parliamentarian Supriya Sule met Mumbai Police chief Vivek Phansalkar demanding action.
Sule told the police that her father received a message on Facebook that read “he will meet the same fate as (Narendra) Dabholkar soon.” She also submitted printouts of the screenshots.
Meanwhile, a senior NCP politician, Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar claimed that the message was sent by Saurav Pimpalkar whose social media profile says he is a BJP supporter.
Reacting to the death threat, the NCP chief said: “Every citizen of this state has the right to express his view on any party as per the constitution, in such situations if someone thinks that he can shut the voice by threats then it's a misunderstanding. I have full faith in the system and the capabilities of the Police who are responsible to maintain law and order so I am not worried about it.”
On the other hand, Maharashtra State Chief Eknath Shinde said that the state government has taken serious note of the death threat to Pawar and has ordered a probe. He also said that the police have been asked to beef up security for Pawar if needed.
Deputy State Chief Devendra Fadnavis said: “Threatening any leader or overstepping the bounds of civility while expressing themselves on social media will not be tolerated and assured that the police will take action as per law.”
Apart from Pawar, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) parliamentarian Sanjay Raut and his brother Sunil Raut have also claimed that they have received death threats via calls.
“Uddhav Thackeray faction MP Sanjay Raut and I have received death threat calls since yesterday, asking them not to talk to the media in the morning. Mumbai Police Commissioner and state Home Minister have been informed regarding the incident,” said Sunil Raut.