E-Paper
BJP’s Rampur MP gets death threats, FIR lodged
Quoting the complainant, a police officer said the sender also threatened to target the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), ministers and the Indian Army in the messages
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Rampur Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi received threats to his life and that of his family members through the WhatsApp instant messaging application and phone calls multiple times on Thursday and Friday, Rampur district police officials said on Saturday.
The officials said an FIR was lodged with the Civil Lines police station on the complaint of the MP in this regard and further probe was underway.
Sharing further details, Kishan Avtaar, the inspector in-charge of Civil Lines police station in Rampur, said the complainant had informed that he received five WhatsApp messages on his number from an unknown number in which the sender warned him to quit the BJP, otherwise he and his family will be killed.
He said the sender introduced himself as Sandip Singh Khalistani in the messages received on his mobile phone number on Thursday. The officer said the sender also threatened to target the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), ministers and the Indian Army in the messages.
He said the MP received another message from the same number on Friday when he reported the matter to the police. He said the sender told the MP to take back his complaint or face severe consequences.
The inspector said the MP also received five phone calls from the same number but he did not answer them. The MP informed the Rampur superintendent of police and the office of the Union home minister about the matter.
Lodhi became a first-time MP when he won the Rampur Lok Sabha bypoll in June 2022. He had served as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council from 2004 to 2010, representing Rashtriya Kranti Party of Kalyan Singh. From 2016 to 2022, he represented the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Similar death threats through WhatsApp messages were also sent to BJP Kisan Morcha district secretary of Moradabad, Veer Singh ,some days ago. The police had lodged a separate FIR in connection with the threats sent to Veer Singh.
