NCP worker suspects 'plot' to kill Sharad Pawar, files plaint

A complaint suspecting a "conspiracy to kill" NCP chief Sharad Pawar was filed with local police on Saturday by a party worker who cited certain "provocative" online video statements and the comments generated by them.

Mentioning the statements and the "violent" reactions evoked by them in his complaint to the cyber cell and Shivajinagar police station, the activist Laxmikant Khabiya stated that they are akin to a "modus operandi used to threaten Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.

Dabholkar, a rationalist, was shot dead in August 2013 allegedly by some radical groups while Pansare, a Leftist thinker, was killed in 2015.

Activists allegedly linked to some Hindu organisations were arrested in both the cases by the investigating agencies.

In his complaint, Khabiya has demanded action against makers of the "provocative" speeches against Pawar and those posting the comments favouring extreme views.

He has named at least two persons in his complaint.

"Looking at the speeches made by these people and the reactions evoked in the comment section, a question arises whether it is a pre-planned plot to eliminate Pawar saheb," said Khabiya.

He said a journalist and another person have been ranting against the NCP chief and the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government since it came to power in November last year, on a Youtube channel.

"The reactions in the comment sections of (their videos) read as: 'Pawar saheb must be shot; a bomb should be used'. Such reactions is a matter of worry for Maharashtra," Khabiya stated.

"It is a similar modus operandi that was used to threaten Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare," he alleged.

Khabiya also said that he had requested Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who belongs to the NCP, to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate such "threats".

"We are investigating the allegations and further action will be taken after verification of facts," said Pune Police Commissioner K. Venkatesham.