The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Congress MLA gets threatening call

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Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Congress MLA gets threatening call

S. Vijay Kumar

CHENNAI: Ramanathapuram Congress MLA Hasan Ali received a telephone call on Sunday evening, warning him and his colleagues of dire consequences. Preliminary investigations revealed that the call was made from a mobile phone in London.

According to police sources, the caller told Mr.Ali that he was in possession of letters written by him to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on the Eelam issue.

Commissioner of Police K. Radhakrishnan said the Cyber Crime Cell had launched an investigation based on a complaint lodged by the MLA.

“The caller spoke with a typical Sri Lankan Tamil accent. Refusing to identify himself, he said I would soon have to pay a heavy price for my actions that had made the lives of Tamils [in Sri Lanka] more miserable.

Claiming that he was in possession of the letters written by me to Mr. Rajapaksa and Mr. Karunanidhi, he warned me of dire consequences…But I have not written anything wrong,” Mr. Ali told The Hindu here on Monday.

When the MLA called back to know why he was being targeted, the suspect declined to elaborate and said he (Mr. Ali) would get a prize soon.

“This is not the first time that somebody is calling to threaten us. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.V. Thangkabalu and Congress MLA C. Gnanasekaran also received such threats. The police have promised to provide protection,” said Mr.Ali. Last week, a similar call from London to a local police station had warned of a suicide attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had come here to inaugurate the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention at Chennai Trade Centre.

“We have sought the assistance of Central intelligence agencies. Unless there is specific input about the caller and his/her links to banned organisations, the seriousness of the threat perception cannot be ascertained. A general alert has been sounded to maintain surveillance on vital establishments and VIPs in the State,” said a senior police officer. In a related development, he said a team of the National Security Guards visited a 1,200-acre site near Red Hills on the city outskirts recently for setting up an NSG hub there.

“They want to create a full-fledged training centre and township. We are also looking at a 30-acre land near the airport, which they want,” the official added.

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