CM Fadnavis rebuts Pawar's claims about threat letter to PM

Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has given it back to NCP chief Sharad Pawar for raising doubts over the alleged threat letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing his party’s rally in Pune. Saying that the police has all necessary proof to support the case, Mr Fadnavis expressed displeasure over Mr Pawar’s trivialising of such a sensitive issue.

Raising the issue of the letter during his Pune address, Mr Pawar said, “They (the Pune police) say there is a threatening letter. I spoke to a senior retired officer of the crime investigation department (CID) and he said that standard procedure is followed in case of such letters. There is no substance in this letter. So, it is clear that as the BJP’s graph goes down, the party is trying to garner sympathy with this letter.”

Mr Pawar even went so far as to say that the arrests made in Bhima-Koregaon were a misuse of power. “When like-minded people came together to organise the Elgar Parishad, they were called Naxals and arrested. Everyone knows who is behind the Bhima-Koregaon incident. But those who have no links were arrested for it. This is misuse of power,” he claimed.

Mr Fadnavis, who is in America on an official tour, was quick to rebut Mr Pawar’s claims. He instantly replied on Twitter saying, “It is unfortunate that Mr Pawar is raising doubts over communication seized by the police which reveals a plot to assassinate the PM. The PM is the leader of the nation and not just of one party. Mr Pawar is not expected to stoop down to this level. The police has all evidence and the truth will prevail.”

According to the Pune police, it has received a letter from Naxalites, threatening to kill the PM. The alleged letter has all the details of the plot and has created quite a stir for the past few days. The Congress and other opposition parties have already cast aspersions on the authenticity of the letter even as BJP has termed their approach as “narrow minded” and bad for the nation.