Police arrest man who wrote threat letter ahead of Kerala visit of PM Modi

Meanwhile, Commissioner Sethu Raman said 2,060 police personnel had been deployed in Kochi city as part of the security arrangements for the prime minister’s visit.

He also said that around 20,000 participants are expected to take part in Modi’s road show.

Related: Kerala Police probe threat letter sent ahead of PM Modi visit

The probe

The letter in Malayalam, written in the name of Kochi resident N J Johny, was received at the office of BJP state president K Surendran who in turn handed it over to the police last week.

The news of the letter came out on Saturday after a report by the ADGP (Intelligence) was telecast in the media.

After the news broke, Surendran told reporters he had handed over the threatening letter a week ago to the state police chief.

Johny told reporters on Friday that he was innocent. “The police have questioned me. I have given them all the details. They cross-checked the handwriting and everything,” he said.

His family told the police said they suspected another person from the locality, who had some issues with them over some matter related to a church.

Police said Xavier had some personal disagreements with Johny and wrote the letter to trap him.

Related: Former Kerala Congress leader launches new party; BJP to gain?

Modi’s agenda in Kerala

Modi is expected to lay the foundation stone for the country’s first Digital Science Park — a ₹1,500-crore project — in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

കേന്ദ്ര പദ്ധതികളുടെ ഉത്ഘാടനം പ്രധാനമന്ത്രി ശ്രീ. @narendramodi 2023 ഏപ്രിൽ 25 ന് രാവിലെ 11 മണിക്ക് തിരുവനന്തപുരം സെൻട്രൽ സ്റ്റേഡിയത്തിൽ നിർവ്വഹിക്കുന്നു. pic.twitter.com/lG5Z9XbMV6

— BJP KERALAM (@BJP4Keralam) April 22, 2023

The third-generation science park — they are located in bustling city centres — will come up close to the Digital University of Kerala at Technopark Phase IV – Technocity, according to an official statement.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, various ministers of the Left government and the Congress’ Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor would be attending the event, it added.

The project had been conceived as a multidisciplinary cluster-based interactive-innovation zone focused on digital technologies and is expected to be completed in two years, it said.

In the 2022-23 budget, the state government announced the establishment of a Digital Science Park in an area of 10 lakh square feet in two blocks, it added.

“The park will initially have two buildings with a total area of 2 lakh square feet. The first one in 1.5 lakh square feet will have five floors, housing the Centre of Excellence (CoE) including research labs and digital incubator, while the second building will house the administrative as well as Digital Experience centre.”

The Digital Science Park will start its operations from a 10,000 square feet space in Kabani located at Technopark Phase IV within the next couple of months, it added.

Out of the total project outlay of over ₹1,500 crore, ₹200 crore has already been allotted by the state government.

The remaining amount will be generated from other sources including industry partners, the statement said.

Initially, the Digital Science Park will facilitate industry and business units as well as technology startups from the domains of Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, electronics, smart hardware, and sustainable and smart materials.

“UK-based semiconductor and software design company ARM has signed an agreement with Digital University Kerala on academic, research and startup-related activities as part of this centre,” said the statement.

“Similarly, the centre for AI will focus on both the hardware and software aspects of responsible AI, where the leading multinational technology company NVIDIA is expected to join as a partner,” it added.

(With PTI inputs)