Uttarakhand: Two Arrested For Planning on WhatsApp to 'Kill Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman'
After being alerted at 9:30 pm yesterday, the police swung into action. The duo were apprehended early morning and taken into custody for interrogation.
Dehradun, Sept 17: Two men were arrested in Pithoragarh on Monday morning, ahead of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's visit to the state, for planning to assassinate her on messaging application WhatsApp.
The duo, who who were reportedly under the influence of alcohol, were chatting on Sunday how they could kill Sitharaman. The conversation between them was going on in a WhatsApp group, which allowed other members to alert the police.
After being alerted at 9:30 pm yesterday, the police swung into action. The duo were apprehended early morning and taken into custody for interrogation.
Pithoragarh SP Ramchandra Rajguru said the accused were in inebriated condition when they posted the comments on WhatsApp which indicated a plot to kill Sitharaman.
"We were alerted to the chat (about killing the defence minister) on a WhatsApp group at 9.30 pm on Sunday. We identified two persons between whom the chat was taking place and arrested them Monday morning ahead of the defence minister's arrival here," he told news agency PTI.
The police is probing whether they are linked to any extremist group, or have any connection to arms and ammunition dealers. Based on the investigation so far, both of them have been booked under section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 66 of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
The controversial message sent by one of the arrested duo reads as, "Main shoot karunga Sitharaman ko, kal uska akhiri din hoga. ('I will shoot Sitharaman, tomorrow will be her last day')", police said.
The credentials of the admin of the WhatsApp group are also being looked into, the SP said.
Sitharaman was on a day-long visit to Uttarakhand's Dharchula town, where she inaugurated a mega medical camp organised by the Indian Army on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modis 68th birthday.
(With PTI inputs)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 17, 2018 10:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).