On July 13, the Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar, held a meeting with senior police officers to discuss the matter of threatening calls received by the Haryana MLAs from a Dubai number. Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said as the call was made from a number outside India, the Special Task Force is in contact with the National Agencies.
This is a case of another country as the calls that have come are from Dubai and are from the same number as well. For this, our Special Task Force is maintaining contact with our National Agencies. We are trying to find out soon: Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, Ambala (13.07) pic.twitter.com/lBk2DSTHTq
— ANI (@ANI) July 14, 2022
In a statement, CM Khattar assured safety to all residents of Haryana. In a tweet, he said, “No one will be allowed to disturb the law and order in the state and those who do so will be dealt with strictly.”
विधायकों को धमकी मिलने के मामले पर आज गृह मंत्री श्री @anilvijminister जी व वरिष्ठ पुलिस अधिकारियों से जानकारी लेकर सख्त कार्रवाई करने के निर्देश दिए हैं। प्रदेश में किसी को भी कानून व्यवस्था को बिगाड़ने नहीं दिया जाएगा और ऐसा करने वालों से सख़्ती से निपटा जाएगा। pic.twitter.com/VkBQXOVpVz
— Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) July 13, 2022
ANI quoted Vij as saying, “This is a case of another country as the calls that have come are from Dubai and are from the same number as well. For this, our Special Task Force is maintaining contact with our National Agencies. We are trying to find out more details soon.”
As per reports, Gian Chand Gupta, speaker of the Haryana Legislative Assembly, had said on July 11 that 5-6 MLAs have received death threats from a Dubai number. He further added that the matter was taken seriously by the authorities, and it was discussed with the Chief Minister and Director General of Police (DGP). The security of the MLAs who received threads was increased.
Reports suggest that the calls were related to extortion. The matter was handed over to the Special Task Force on Sunday, and the State Home Minister is monitoring the case regularly. HM Vij said that the STF has made some progress in the case, but considering the sensitivity of the matter, details are not being discussed in public.
One of the MLAs who received the threat calls was from BJP, while the remaining were from Congress. In June this year, BJP MLA Sanjay Singh alleged that he had received an extortion call on Whatsapp on June 25. The caller had identified himself as an associate of the Neeraj Bawana gang and demanded Rs 5 lakh from the MLA.
Congress MLAs Subhash Gangoli, Surender Panwar, Kuldeep Vats, and others too received similar calls. In his complaint, Kuldeep Vats alleged that five men had entered his Pataudi House and thrashed his cook. They threatened to “treat the MLA like Sidhu Moosewala.”
