‘Will meet same fate as Dabholkar’: Threat to NCP chief Sharad Pawar

MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Friday received a death threat on social media. The person who issued the threat is said to be a BJP activist named Saurabh Pimpalkar from Amravati, reports Prafulla Marpakwar. Police are looking for him. The LT Marg police in Mumbai have registered an offence for promoting enmity between groups, criminal intimidation and for breach of peace.
Pawar’s daughter and NCP MP Supriya Sule met Mumbai police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and demanded a thorough probe.
Pawar’s personal security as well as security cover around his Mumbai and Pune residence has been stepped up. Pawar, 82, already has Z+ security cover. State NCP president Jayant Patil, leader of opposition Ajit Pawar and Sule said law enforcing agencies must arrest the suspect immediately. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavissaid threats to political leaders will not be tolerated. He also metMumbai CP Vivek Phansalkar.
The man who issued the threat to Pawar is a resident of Amravati. A 26-year-old, he is a BJP activist and a co-accused in an Amravati University law exam paper leak. “I am a BJP activist, I hate secularism,” Pimpalkar has written on his Twitter account. A team of Amravati police visited his home at Sai Nagar, but he was not found there. His mobile too is switched off, police said.
Meanwhile, some pictures of Saurabh Pimpalkar with BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Union minister Raosaheb Danve were going viral on social media.
MP Supriya Sule said, “…If anything happens to him (Pawar), state and central home ministers will be responsible. ” Ajit Pawar felt it was shocking that the forces responsible for the killing of Narendra Dabholkar were being revived. “Both NDA government and state government must swing into action and ensure that the suspect is put behind bars. People of Maharashtra are enough to protect the life of Sharad Pawar.
(With inputs from Ahmed Ali in Mumbai and Anil Jadhav in Amravati)