Police probe threat letter ahead of PM Modi’s visit to Kerala

PTI, Apr 22, 2023, 2:40 PM IST

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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 April 24 and 25 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 today after a report by ADGP (Intelligence) was telecast in the media. As the news was out, Surendran met the media and said he had handed over the threat letter a week ago to the state police chief.

”Last week, President, BJP state committee, Kerala had received a letter written in Malayalam threatening the life of Hon. Prime Minister of India by using 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 it should be probed. The 49-page report gives details of the names of the officials on duty, their roles, 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 going viral on WhatsApp. This means the state home department is in shambles,” Muraleedharan alleged.

Meanwhile, Kochi resident N J Johny, whose name and number were there in the alleged threat letter, today said he was innocent.

”Police have questioned me. I have given them all the details. They crosschecked the handwriting and everything,” he told the media.

His family said they suspect another person from the locality, who has 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.