Security beefed up outside Sharad Pawar’s residence in Pune after death threat

The Pune Police on Friday stepped up security outside the Motibaug residence of NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar following a death threat issued to him over Twitter.

The threat  was issued through the 'Rajkaran Maharashtrache' Twitter handle. The police are verifying the details of the handle and a cyber investigation has been ordered into the incident.

Taking into account the seriousness of the situation, police was posted outside the Maha Vikas Aghadi leader’s residence.

The Twitter handle threatened that Pawar will face the same fate as Dr Narendra Dabholkar’s — the rationalist who was shot dead in Pune in August 2013.

Pawar’s daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule quickly demanded action against the Twitter user and said that if anything happened to her father, then the Centre and the state would be held responsible for the same.

It now emerges that the man who issued the threat is a BJP worker and his photographs with the current and former BJP state unit chiefs, Chandrakant Bawankule and Raosaheb Danve have gone viral.

A number of NCP leaders visited Pawar at his residence. However, the city police had banned entry of citizens, taking into account the security threat.

Only senior NCP leaders were allowed inside the residence. Some women police staffers were also deployed as part of heightened security measures. 

Meanwhile, Pawar in his media interaction at Baramati today said that he did not care much about the death threat but raised serious questions about the law and order situation in the state.

"Every citizen has a right to express his or her opinion on any topic or issue. If someone feels that they can silence the voice by threatening then they are mistaken," said Pawar.

Pawar’s nephew and former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar described the threat as serious and demanded that the accused be arrested at the earliest. "The threat has been issued on social media where the accused has said that you will be Dabholkar. Such anti-national elements must be nabbed and immediately arrested for threatening a respected person like Sharad Pawar," he said.