Death threat to Pawar: NCP leaders seek immediate arrest of suspect

Mumbai: Police are looking for Amravati BJP activist Saurabh Pimpalkar who allegedly put out a tweet on Friday warning NCP chief Sharad Pawar that he would meet the same fate as slain rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.LT Marg police in Mumbai have registered an offence for promoting enmity between groups, criminal intimidation and breach of peace. Pawar’s daughter and NCP MP Supriya Sule met Mumbai police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and demanded a probe and the arrest of the suspect. Sule said, “I hope the home department will take immediate action. If anything happens to him (Pawar), the state and central home ministers will be responsible.”Ajit Pawar too condemned the threat. “We have found out his name from the Twitter handle. He has been identified as Saurabh Pimpalkar and claims to be a BJP activist. Law enforcing agencies must take it seriously, arrest him immediately and find out the mastermind behind the death threat,’’ Ajit said.He said it was shocking the forces responsible for the killing of Dabholkar were being revived. All out steps should be taken by the state home department to demolish and uproot such forces, the NCP leader said, adding, “Revival of anti-Dabholkar forces is dangerous. Since elections are round the corner, it appears that communal forces have become more active. Both CM and DCM must take stern action against the person who issued the threat.’’Pimpalkar (26) is a co-accused in an Amravati University law exam paper leak along with former BJP corporator Pranit Soni. “I am BJP activist, I hate secularism,” Pimpalkar’s Twitter handle said. A team of Amravati police is tracking his whereabouts. Cops visited his home, but did not find him. His mobile too is switched off, police said. NCP activists met Amravati police commissioner Navinchandra Reddy and demanded Pimpalkar’s arrest. In a memorandum, they said Pimpalkar was being protected by the party’s leaders despite his role in the alleged paper leak. This protection, they said, had emboldened him to threaten Pawar. MPCC president Nana Patole said the deteriorating law and order situation had put a question mark over the home department’s working. (With inputs from Ahmed Ali in Mumbai and Anil Jadhav in Amravati)
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