MUMBAI: Police have arrested five persons including an NCP activist allegedly linked to Sanjay Raut's brother Sunil Raut, for threatening the Shiv Sena MP. Police suspect that an NCP activist named Mayur Shinde, who has a criminal record, hatched the conspiracy to get Raut's security upgraded.
Since the BJP-Shinde government has come to power, police security cover for the MP has reduced. Following the arrests, BJP and MNS have criticised Raut and demanded that police should investigate his role in the conspiracy.
Last week Raut had lodged a complaint of a threat on the same day as Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar. According to the complaint, an unidentified caller had threatened Raut that if he did not personally attend to his calls, he would be shot. The caller also demanded that Raut stop his 'morning loudspeakers' (meaning his press conferences) within a month failing which he would be "sprayed with bullets".
A probe has revealed that the duo who made the calls to the Raut brothers did it under the influence of alcohol. Using technical support, Kanjurmarg police traced the calls to an auto driver, Rizwan Ansari (26), and an interior designer named Shahid Ansari.
They were arrested along with two other suspects, another auto driver named Akash Patel, and a person identified as Munna Mohammed Mustaq Shaikh from Dharavi. During an interrogation, they named an NCP activist named Mayur Shinde who was allegedly known to Raut's brother.
"We learnt that Mayur Shinde, who has a few criminal cases, allegedly asked them to issue threats to Raut. We have arrested five people, but the question is whether the threat complaint lodged by Raut is genuine,'' said an officer.
BJP MLA Nitesh Rane slammed Raut for allegedly using underhand means to get more police security. "Who is Mayur Shinde? He is a supporter of Sunil Raut (Sanjay Raut's brother). A complaint under Section 420 should be filed against Sanjay Raut. Sanjay Raut and his brother Sunil Raut are so dubious, they orchestrated threats by their own workers. By telling lies like this, they walk around with police protection," Rane said.
BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the complaints of a threat was a deliberate attempt to defame the home department and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who handles it.
BJP MLC Prasad Lad said Raut must be arrested for misleading the people, government and police. "The manner in which Mayur Shinde was arrested, the alleged threats to Raut, Shinde's links to the underworld all must be investigated and criminal offences must be filed against Raut," he said.