Gadkari receives threat calls from man with terrorist links, NIA reaches Nagpur for probe

A National Investigation Agency(NIA)  team arrived in Nagpur on Thursday to probe threat calls received at the office of Union minister Nitin Gadkari. A murder convict with links to Lashkar-e-Taiba is the main suspect behind the threat call, an official said.

Police said that the call was received on the landline number at Gadkari's official residence in Nagpur on January 14, made by Jayesh Pujari alias Kantha. 

He demanded Rs 100 crore from Gadkari on the first threat call, claiming to be a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang. He placed a second call seeking Rs 10 crore on March 21.

A police probe found he had links to Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives and had also got arms training from ultras in the north east of the country, after which the Ministry of Home Affairs directed the NIA to begin a probe, the official said.

He was brought to Nagpur on March 28 after police invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Though he is in jail, a third threat call was received this month. 

"An NIA team under a deputy inspector general rank officer has arrived in Nagpur. The NIA team have taken the case papers of two offences registered in the matter in Dhantoli police station in their possession. Further investigation is underway," the official said.