Giridih/Ranchi: Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand and Jharkhand Vikash Morcha (Prajatantrik)’s chief, Babulal Marandi today claimed of getting death threats through a letter issued by the banned outfit CPI (Maoist).
The 61-year-old leader is also the Mahagathbandhan candidate from Koderma Lok Sabha constituency, for which campaigning is underway and voting will be done on May 6.
The former chief minister during a press conference said, “Yesterday, I received a letter by post in which I have been threatened. It seems like the letter has been sent from Ranchi. If I did not stay away from election, I will also be blown up like Koderma District President Ashok Yadav was blown along with his jeep.”
Exhibiting the letter during the press meet he said that police and the government should investigate the entire matter as names of Amit Shah and Raghubar Das have also been mentioned in the letter.
“I want the administration to take this matter seriously as it has been said in the letter that a deal has been struck between the government and the Naxals to win all 14 seats in Jharkhand. Through this threat I have been told not to campaign and seek votes in Koderma,” he said.
Marandi whose son Anup had been shot dead by the Maoists, along with 18 others in 2007 further said, “I have taken cognizance because, when I was the chief minister, then the entire state was Naxal infested. At that time PWG, which has now merged, in their website had put the name of three Chief Ministers of India in their hit list including me.”
He recalled, “After stepping down from the post of the chief minister, there was an attack on my family in which 19 people were killed including my son. My brother has been attacked twice.”
He even questioned Raghubar Das government for taking away his Z cover security. “When I started exposing the Raghubar Das government, my Z plus security was done away with. Back then me getting security or not, was not an issue. But today when I connect everything, the government’s intention seems suspicious. Maybe everything is sponsored by the government. They first reduced my security and now I am getting a threat letter. So, I want the police, administration and government to look into the case immediately and punish the culprit,” Marandi added.
Giridih Superintendent Police Surendra Jha could not be contacted for a comment on the letter.
