4 min readJun 15, 2023 04:26 PM IST
First published on: Jun 10, 2023 at 12:11 AM IST
A death threat to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on social media set off a political slugfest in Maharashtra with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) seeking action against the perpetrators and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde “instructing” police to investigate the matter.
The Mumbai Police have registered an FIR at the LT Marg police station and the probe was handed over to the Mumbai crime branch (unit II).
On Friday morning, a delegation of NCP workers led by Pawar’s daughter and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule met Mumbai police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar stating that the 82-year-old Pawar received a message on social media that read “he will meet the same fate as (Narendra) Dabholkar soon”.
Narendra Dabholkar, who fought against superstitious beliefs, was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants during his morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013.
“I received a threat message on my WhatsApp for Pawar Saheb. The threat has come from a website and there are also several objectionable comments on Twitter under the post. Hence I have come to the police demanding justice… The entire responsibility falls on the Maharashtra Government and the home ministry… If anything happens, the home ministry of the state and Centre will be responsible,” NCP MP Supriya Sule said after meeting with Phansalkar.
Meanwhile, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar said the threat message was sent by an individual whose social media profile says he is a BJP supporter.
“The threat is said to have come from a person whose Twitter account says that he is a BJP worker. Is he really associated with the BJP?… Has the BJP told him to issue such a threat. Who is the mastermind behind it…,” said NCP leader Ajit Pawar.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde who is in Jammu and Kashmir took to Twitter to state that the government has taken a serious note of the threat received by Pawar and his safety will be taken care of.
Citing that he was not worried, Sharad Pawar, however, said, “Every citizen of the state has a right to express their views on every issue. But it is their misunderstanding that they can suppress my voice by issuing threats… I am not worried about the threats. I have a full faith in a system that takes care of law and order in the state and their capabilities. Hence I do not worry about it. But the people who have got the responsibility of running the state cannot shrug off their responsibility,” the senior Pawar said.
The Mumbai Police has said that they are using technical intelligence to track down the accused who made these threatening messages.
An officer said that they have the identity of the accused as part of the complaint given by the NCP delegation. “There were screenshots of the messages uploaded on social media platforms. Our teams are using technical intelligence to track down the accused,” the official said.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena UBT Sanjay Raut also alleged on Friday that he along with his younger brother and Shiv Sena UBT Member Legislative Assembly (MLA) Sunil Raut have been receiving threats for two days and urged the Maharashtra government to take action.
“It is state-sponsored threats. The ruling party wants to finish off opponents either by misusing the agencies or issuing such threats… I have informed Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis as a citizen,” Raut said.
An officer said that two persons have been detained in connection. “So far no FIR has been registered. We have traced two persons. If we find their involvement, a case will be registered and they will be arrested.”
Citing that he was not worried, Sharad Pawar, however, said, “Every citizen of the state has a right to express their views on every issue. But it is their misunderstanding that they can suppress my voice by issuing threats... I am not worried about the threats. (Express Photo) 
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