On April 15, around 8 a.m., former minister Eknath Khadse received a threating call saying, “I will kill you.” The caller identified themselves as someone closely associated with gangsters Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Khadse said, “At first, I thought it was a prank, so I did not take it seriously and went ahead with my day. But the call continued with two different numbers, both seemed to have USA based numbers. There were five calls, made in the morning and afternoon and the last call was at 8 p.m. Receiving five death threat calls saying I will face dire consequences, and that I will be killed, so much in just one day, seemed a little serious. Hence on Tuesday (April 16) morning, I lodged a police complaint at Muktai Nagar police station in Jalgaon district against the unknown caller. I have not received any special security from the police. It is disturbing but I am fine, our family is also worried. Police has assured to trace the callers soon.”
Mr. Khadse, who is currently with the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar, had earlier this month announced that he would soon return to the BJP.
A police official said that based on Mr. Khadse’s complaint, a case of non-cognizable offense has been registered against an unknown person under relevant provisions. At present, the police have not been able to trace the callers yet, but the investigation is underway.
