The Vile Parle police have booked an unidentified individual for allegedly threatening to carry out a bomb blast at a religious procession organised by Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Mukti Nirman Trust, which is a plaintiff in the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah mosque dispute. Initial probe found that the call was made from a Pakistani number.
The FIR was lodged by Hindu preacher and Trust president Ashutosh Pandey, 48, a Mathura resident, who claimed that the caller even abused deities and gave him death threats. The procession – Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Mukti Janjagran Abhiyan Yatra – was organised in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik, from December 21 to 23. The incident occurred on December 21 and the case was filed on the same day.
According to the FIR, Pandey along with his cousin Pradipkumar Bhargav was flying from Delhi on December 21 to attend yatra. At the airport, the former received a WhatsApp call from an unknown Pakistani number. The caller told Pandey that he was aware of his travel plans and threatened to carry out a bomb blast during yatra if it isn't stopped.
The complainant said that after he reached Mumbai, he received another WhatsApp call from the same number. This time, the caller abused both Pandey and Hindu Deities, repeated the bomb threat, warned that several people would die in the blast and that he would be killed too. The preacher said that he recorded all communications using another phone.
In his complaint, Pandey said that personally argues the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah case in the Allahabad Court. He further claimed that he had received death threats from Pakistan since January 2024.
The Vile Parle police have registered an FIR under sections 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings by insulting religion or religious beliefs) and 351(4) (criminal intimidation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.