TN BJP leader says police should take threat to PM seriously

: Expressing shock over the reported Maoists' plot to assassinate prime minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan said the police and the intelligence should take the threat seriously and put down extremist forces with an iron hand.

"It is really shocking, and political rivals should not be looked at as an enemy," she told reporters in response to a question on the reported threat to eliminate Modi.

The letter issuing the threat contained serious issues, including monitoring the movement of Modi and road-shows to finish him off, as was done in the case of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, the BJP leader said.

The police in Pune yesterday told a court that they had seized a "letter" from the Delhi residence of one of the five people arrested on Wednesday for having alleged "links" with the banned CPI (Maoist).

The letter allegedly mentioned of a plan to assassinate Modi in another Rajiv Gandhi-type incident, they had said.

Referring to Tamil Nadu, Soundararajan said certain forces were planning to create problems by organising agitations like the protests over jallikattu, NEET and Sterlite copper plant in Tuticorin.

Claiming that the law and order situation in the state was deteriorating, she referred to a spate of crimes, particularly chain-snatching incidents and said police should restore normalcy.