19-year-old arrested for threatening CM, son

Mumbai crime branch arrests Pune student for threatening CM Eknath Shinde and his son via social media. Accused traced and booked under IPC sections.

MUMBAI: The Mumbai crime branch on Friday arrested a 19-year-old student from Pune for allegedly threatening chief minister Eknath Shinde and his son and MP Shrikant Shinde via social media platform X. The accused Subham Warkad is a native of Nanded who is studying Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) in Pune. He is a first-year student and police said they are probing his intention behind the threat.

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According to the police, a person identified as Abhay wrote a post on X on February 11, stating, “I want a photo with Eknath Shinde. I am thinking of starting hooliganism. I have little bit of experience and goons can guide me.” Warkad replied to this post from his own account, saying, “Bandook Me Anoon Deto bhau Tula Pan Pahila Game Eknath ani Shrikant Yanchach Karawa lagel (I will bring the gun brother, but you will have to first kill Eknath and Shrikant).”

Mumbai police immediately forwarded the post to the cyber police after coming across it on X, in order to trace the persons who were openly talking about killing the CM and his son, said a police officer. The Mumbai crime branch and the anti-terrorism squad swung into action thereafter, tracing the accused’s IP address connected to his gmail ID, his mobile number and his location. A team from the crime intelligence unit subsequently rushed to Pune and nabbed Warkad.

During interrogation, Warkad accepted that he had posted the threatening message on X, said the officer. On Friday, he was brought to Mumbai and booked under sections 505 (statements conducing public mischief) and 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code at the Santacruz police station. The case has been transferred to the crime branch unit 9 for investigation.Warkad will be produced in court on Saturday, said a senior officer.

Earlier, in August 2023, the cyber police had arrested Kailash Kapdi, a resident of Dadar, for allegedly posting abusive messages about chief minister Eknath Shinde on X between September 2022 and March 2023.