Activist claims mafia death threats to withdraw cases against ex-BJP minister

Mumbai, Sep 23 (IANS) Activist and ex-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Anjali Damania on Saturday claimed to have received death threats in a call made from a landline number in Karachi.

"At 12.33 a.m., I got a threatening call asking me to withdraw all cases against (former BJP minister) Eknath Khadse," she said in a statement.

Damania quoted the telephonic conversation: "Tune jeena haram kar rakha hai sabka. Teri family hai na.." (You have made life miserable for everybody. You also have a family).

She said the true caller showed the number (starting with codes +92 21) from a landline in Karachi.

Damania spoke with top officials and lodged a complaint with the Vakola police station in Santacruz east on Saturday morning.

"Informed Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) is investigating the matter," she tweeted later.

Khadse, the senior most BJP leader in Maharashtra, had resigned as the Revenue Minister in June 2014 after his name cropped up in a dubious land deal in Pune.

Subsequently, Damania had also levelled accusations against Khadse of allegedly favouring certain contractors in the multi-crore rupee irrigation scam which is under investigation.

The AAP has strongly condemned the incident and demanded that since this matter concerns a number said to belong to a fugitive don like Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, the investigation must be handed over to specialised agencies like the Research and Analysis Wing (RA&W) or Intelligence Bureau (IB).

AAP national spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon said: "This kind of investigation is completely inadequate and the investigation must be handed over to specialised agencies like the RA&W or IB as this number is said to belong to Dawood Ibrahim."

She pointed out that an ethical hacker Maneesh Bhangale had said in the past that the number belongs to Dawood's wife Mehajabeen Shaikh and is registered in Karachi.

However, Bhangale was later arrested for making false claims and the Cyber Police are still probing him in the matter while Khadse was given a clean chit.

"This call to Anjali Damania is on Eknath Khadse's behalf from Dawood's residence. What more proof is required that Khadse and Dawood work together? What is more important is that the state has totally failed to provide safety to activists and journalists and we fear for the safety of Anjali Damania and her family," Menon said.

She demanded that the probe should be handed over to a national agency which cannot be influenced by Khadse the way in which the state agencies were influenced in the past.

"Damania should be provided police security immediately. The whole state stands with her in this crusade against corruption," Menon added.