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Angry with hotelier, drunk man calls cops with ‘info’ on threat to Maha CM’s life; booked
The investigation revealed the man, Avinash Waghmare, was drunk and made the call to “teach a lesson” to the owner of the hotel for allegedly overcharging him for a bottle of water, a police official said on Sunday
Pune rural police on Sunday registered a non-cognisable offence against a 36-year-old man from Ghatkopar area of Mumbai for making a hoax call on police helpline number 112 claiming a “plot” to kill Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at a hotel in Lonavala in Pune district.
The investigation revealed the man, Avinash Waghmare, was drunk and made the call to “teach a lesson” to the owner of the hotel for allegedly overcharging him for a bottle of water, a police official said on Sunday.
Following the call, Lonavla police detained him for a few hours before letting him go with the warning.
According to Police, Waghmare was travelling from Mumbai to Jat in Sangli district in a private bus. When the bus halted at a hotel along the National Highway in Lonavla, Waghmare had heated argument with hotel owner Kishor Patil over inflated prices of water bottle. In the heat of the moment, Waghmare, called up police helpline 112 and spoke about plan being hatched to kill Shinde at hotel Sai Krupa.
Abhinav Deshmukh SP Pune rural said, “He asked the police to visit the hotel as soon as possible and boarded the bus and left for his destination. We tracked bus he was travelling in and detained him from Khed Shivapur near Pune. During the interrogation, it was revealed that Waghmare made a hoax call to teach a lesson to the hotel owner. A non-cognisable offence against Waghamre has been registered under sections of 177 (furnishing false information ).
Meanwhile, CM Eknath Shinde’s security has been beefed up owing to inputs linked to a threat to his life. Simultaneously, security at Shinde`s official residence `Varsha`, at Malabar Hill and his private home in Thane city was beefed up with additional forces deployed.
Shinde told media, “Our home department and home minister Devendra Fadnavis are capable to handle such an incident. I trust them and am scared of such threats. I do not pay attention to it. Nobody can stop me from working for the people of Maharashtra. I will continue to serve the state.”
“As deputy chief minister and home minister, Fadnavis is incharge of the home department, we demand that there should be a probe as to who is behind this call,” senior BJP leader Pravin Darekar said.
“The threat is out of the jealousy about the Hindutvawadi government which has been led by Shinde. There is unrest among these people from the day the government came into existence. The extreme steps are out of it, but the government would not spare them,” he added.
Earlier, Shinde - who leads the rebel Shiv Sena faction which toppled the Maha Vikas Aghadi govt in June - had been the target of similar threats from Maoists and anti-national elements earlier when he was a minister in the previous government.
Though officials are tight-lipped, there’s speculation that the latest threats may be linked to the Centre’s decision to ban the PFI.
Shinde is presently travelling a lot for the Navratri festivities and will address a Dussehra rally at the Bandra Kurla Complex ground on Vijaya Dashami.
