Man held for threatening RBI Governor

Mumbai: The Mumbai cyber police on Sunday arrested a 34-year-old unemployed man from Nagpur, who allegedly sent a threat email to Reserve Bank of India (RBI)‘s governor Urjit Patel, who lives in Mumbai.

According to the cyber cell police, accused Vaibhav Baddalwar allegedly sent the email on February 23. In the email, Baddalwar asked Mr Patel to resign from his post as the RBI governor, failing which, he would kill Mr Patel’s children. The email warned: “We will finish your family overnight, your lovely daughter, son will get killed in coming blast...” The police said that the email is riddled with grammatical errors and disjointed sentences. The cyber police is investigating how Baddalwar managed to get Mr Patel’s personal email ID.

The police arrested Baddalwar from Nagpur, after tracing his internet protocol address. The police is verifying why Baddalwar sent the threat mail to Mr Patel. Deputy commissioner of police (cyber crime) Akhilesh Kumar Singh said, “We have sent him for a medical examination but he appears to be mentally disturbed.”

A source from the cyber police said that Baddalwar is unemployed and stays with some relatives in Nagpur, although he hails from Gadhchiroli. “He appears to be depressed and was frustrated because he was not getting a job. He did hold three jobs in the past,” the source said.

A senior officer from the cyber police revealed that Mr Patel initially informed the RBI general manager about the threat email, who in turn approached the police to register an FIR. But since the threat was sent via email they were asked to inform the cyber police, which registered an offence on February 28. “After registering the FIR, we began investigations and traced the mail to the accused. He had used his laptop to send the email,” the police source said.

The email states: “Hi Mr Urjit, RBI Governor, my dear son, please quit the job, don't seat in the RBI, this is my right, otherwise, we will going to kill you, we will finish your family overnight, your lovely daughter, son will get killed in coming blast, without any bones remain in the body”.

The cyber police after investigating, sent a team to Nagpur where the accused stays in the main area of the city. “He (Baddalwar) is said to have completed his post graduation but is unemployed since many years. We are investigating how he got hold of Mr Patel’s personal email. He (Baddalwar) has admitted to sending the email. Baddalwar says that he got the email address off the web,” said a source from the cyber cell. The accused had been booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code.