Police probe threat letter ahead of Kerala visit of PM Modi

The letter in Malayalam, purportedly written by a Kochi resident, was received at the office of BJP state president K Surendran.

ByPTI

Published Apr 22, 2023 | 4:06 PMUpdatedApr 23, 2023 | 4:56 PM

File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Kerala Police and central agencies have launched an investigation into a letter threatening a suicide bomb attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be visiting the state on 24 and 25 April to take part in various programmes.

The letter in Malayalam, purportedly written by a Kochi resident, was received at the office of BJP state president K Surendran, who in turn had handed it over to the police last week.

The news of the threat letter came out on Saturday, 22 April, after a report by the ADGP (Intelligence) was telecast in the media.

As the news was out, Surendran met reporters and said he had handed over the threat letter a week ago to the state police chief.

The political fallout

“Last week, the Kerala BJP state committee president received a letter written in Malayalam threatening the life of the prime minister of India by using a suicide bomber,” the intelligence report read.

The report also said the veracity of the letter and the person behind it were under investigation.

Surendran alleged that the “leak of the intelligence report” from the police was a grave mistake and should be probed.

The 49-page report gives details of the names of the officials on duty, their roles, and the detailed programme chart of the Prime Minister, among other matters.

Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan also slammed the alleged leak of the ADGP (Intelligence) report and said it was a serious matter.
“The Chief Minister should explain how a report on the security detail of the prime minister was leaked and is going viral on WhatsApp. This means the state home department is in shambles,” Muraleedharan alleged.

The investigation

Meanwhile, Kochi resident NJ Johny, whose name and number were there in the alleged threat letter, said on Saturday he was innocent.

“The police have questioned me. I have given them all the details. They crosschecked the handwriting and everything,” he told reporters.

His family said they suspect another person from the locality, who has had some issues with them over some matter related to a church, behind the letter.

As per the report, nearly 2,000 police personnel have been deployed each in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi cities.

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