Maoists plot to assassinate Modi, Fadnavis: Pune Police
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 8
Police, investigating the Maoist links to the Koregaon-Bhima caste riots, have stumbled upon letters that point to plans to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, officials said here on Friday.
Pune Police intercepts internal communication of Maoists planning a 'Rajiv Gandhi type' assassination of Prime Minister Modi.
— ANI (@ANI)
Police have also released pictures of four more persons involved in the Koregaon-Bhima riots of January 1, that left one person dead, and appealed to the public to inform them of their whereabouts.
One of the incriminating letters has been found from the home of Delhi-based activist Rona Wilson, who was among the five activists arrested from different parts of India on Wednesday as part of the probe into the riots conspiracy and "urban Maoist sympathisers".
The letter refers to a requirement of Rs 8 crore to procure M-4 rifles and 400,000 rounds and speaks of "another Rajiv Gandhi-type incident".
Excerpt from internal communication of Maoists intercepted by the Pune police said, “Comrades proposed concrete steps to end Modi-raj. We are thinking of Rajiv Gandhi-type incident. There is a good chance we might fail but the party must deliberate on it. Targeting his roadshows can be effective. We collectively believe that survival of the party is supreme to all sacrifices.”
It may be recalled that former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991 in Sriperumbedur, Tamil Nadu, by a suicide bomber from neighbouring Sri Lanka while on the campaign trail.
The Pune police told a court on Thursday that they seized the letter from the residence of one of the five persons they had arrested in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence.
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury reacts on Pune Police intercepts internal communication of Maoists planning a 'Rajiv Gandhi type' assassination of Prime Minister Modi.
— ANI (@ANI)
