Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala & his family receive death threats

Threat call from abroad asks him to stop making remarks against beedi tycoon Muhammed Nisham

Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala on Monday claimed he and his family had received death threats from abroad, asking him to stop making remarks against beedi tycoon Muhammed Nisham, who is lodged in jail for killing a security after hitting him with his car.

He informed the state Assembly that he had been receiving calls from abroad at night since October 22, threatening that he or any of his family members would be physically harmed if they spoke against Nisham.

Chennithala said he had also received a threatening message on October 23 at 11.22 PM on his mobile.

The senior Congress leader said the government should conduct an enquiry and take strict action in this connection. He later gave a letter in this regard to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the DGP.

The chief minister said the government would take the issue seriously and enquire into it without any laxity.

Nisham was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Thrissur in January this year besides an additional 24 years and slapped a fine of Rs 80.30 lakh for killing the security guard of his residential complex.

He had assaulted the guard in an inebriated state and later rammed his luxury vehicle against him in the early hours of January 29, 2015, irked over the delay in opening the main gates of his posh residential complex in Thrissur.

The guard died on February 16, 2015.