Coimbatore, April 24: A man was arrested on Monday by Coimbatore police after an audio clip of his telephonic conversation surfaced on social media in which he is claiming that he had planned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's murder.  The man who was convicted in the Coimbatore blast case was out after serving his prison term. Mohammed Rafiq, the 53-year-old convict from Kuniyamuthur has been booked on two accounts of Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153 (A) and 506 (ii), reported The Times of India. IPC section 153 (A) is for promoting enmity among different groups on grounds of religion and section 156 (ii) is for criminal intimidation.

In the audio clip Rafiq is heard saying that he was planning to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was produced before Judicial Magistrate VII R Paandy and remanded in judicial custody up to May 7. After getting convicted in the Coimbatore blast case in 1998, he was released in 2007 after serving his prison term.

Rafiq was on the radar of police since his release in 2007. In the 8-minute telephonic conversation with Salem based truck driver who is identified as Prakash, Rafiq heard saying, “We have decided to kill PM Modi. We were the ones who planted bombs during L K Advani's visit to Coimbatore in 1998." Rafiq was also demanding Rs five lakh from Prakash for returning his vehicle in the conversation. The exact date of the conversation in the audio clip was not known.

Police however denied that Rafiq was planning to kill the Prime Minister. According to police Rafiq was just bragging to intidate Prakash. In the conversation Rafiq is heard saying, “You should understand that I’m not scared of anyone.” When Prakash talks about Modi, then Rafiq says, “Yes. We have planned to kill even Modi.” The 53-year-old convict also bragged about his illegal activities.

A police officer from the Special Intelligence Unit told The Times of India, “Rafiq told us during investigation that he was only threatening Prakash and there was no conspiracy to kill the PM.” According to the officer, Rafiq admitted to police that it was his voice in the conversation. He also confessed that Prakash provoked him to say all this.

Rafiq’s brother Ozeer Basha was also a convict in the bomb blast case. Basha was an active member of the now banned Al Umma. Rafiq was an accused in RSS headquarters bomb blast case and was arrested under TADA, but acquitted in 1993.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 24, 2018 10:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).