A day after his mysterious “disappearance” and subsequent hospitalisation in an unconscious condition, VHP leader Pravin Togadia on Tuesday made a startling claim that attempts are being made to “silence” him and he may be “eliminated.”“I am not being allowed to speak on important issues like Ram Temple, cow slaughter, farmers and attempts are being made to silence me forever,” Dr. Togadia told the media here.
He said he was under “constant surveillance” by the IB but he did not divulge at whose behest he was being watched or who was plotting to eliminate him.
“I will name the persons at the appropriate time,” said Dr. Togadia, who went “missing” after a team of Rajasthan police landed in Ahmedabad to execute an arrest warrant issued against him in a decade-old case. He alleged that he was being “framed in decade-old cases” in Gujarat and Rajasthan, both BJP-ruled States.
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“When I was offering morning prayers, someone came to me with a message that a team of Rajasthan police is on its way to arrest me and I may be bumped off in an encounter,” Mr. Togadia said.
He added “Therefore I decided to directly go to Jaipur to surrender but I fainted on the way to the airport.” However, the Ahmedabad crime branch dismissed Dr. Togadia’s allegations and held that “his disappearance was staged” to evade arrest.
“We have obtained CCTV footage of places he visited after he left the VHP office in an auto with a bearded man. We have also identified persons,” Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) J.K. Bhatt told the media in a briefing. Mr. Bhatt also held that as per the statement of medical staff in the ambulance, Dr. Togadia was “conscious” when being taken to the hospital.
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After Dr. Togadia spoke to the media, several prominent personalities including former encounter specialist cop DG Vanjara and Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel visited him in hospital. Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot demanded a probe into Dr. Togadia’s allegations regarding a plot to bump him off in a police encounter.