Maheshwar Hazari

Patna, June 4: JD(U) MP from Samastipur Maheshwar Hazari, for the second time in a week, has received an anonymous text message, threatening to eliminate him and his family if he failed to pay up Rs 50 lakh.

Perturbed by the repeated threats, Hazari apprised director general of police (DGP) Neel Mani and Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar, who ordered the Secretariat police to launch an investigation after formally lodging a complaint against an unidentified person in this connection.

Before leaving for Delhi on Saturday, Hazari said he received a text message on his cellphone on Friday evening, threatening him and his family members with dire consequences. “Police karwayi ke bach nahi sakte ho (Police action will not save you),” the message warned.

Patna City superintendent of police S. Lande said efforts were on to ascertain the identity of the offender. “Preliminary investigation indicated that the cellphone used in sending the text message belonged to a resident of Vaishali district,” an investigating officer said.

The police officer said a youth, said to be a resident of Navanagar under Bidupur police station in Vaishali district, sent the SMS after finding the MP’s mobile number printed in the newspaper. “The youth identified as Birendra Rai had earlier sent a similar SMS to the station house officer of Bidupur police station under whose jurisdiction his native village comes,” the police officer said.

The City SP said that a police team was sent to Rai’s native village but he managed to escape. “We are alert and keeping a close watch on his movement. He will be arrested soon,” he said, adding the youth appeared to be deranged.

On May 29, the MP had made lodged a similar complaint with the DGP and the SSP. A youth, identified as Manish Kumar, was arrested from Ujiyarpur police station area on the charge of sending a text message to Hazari. Manish confessed to his crime and told the police that he had sent the SMS to teach his friend Umesh a lesson.

In the course of investigation, it came to light that the text message demanding Rs 50 lakh was sent through the cellphone of Umesh’s wife. Both the friends were at loggerheads over a petty issue and decided to send a text message to the ruling party leader to settle his personal score.

The MP had been threatened that his son would be killed if the extortion money was not paid. “The offender was immediately caught and forwarded to jail,” the City SP said.

Hazari is not the only VIP to receive such a threat in recent times. Another JD(U) MP from Ujiyarpur Ashwamegh Devi received a text message on May 3, threatening her and her family with dire consequences. “The message threatened to kill me and also my family members,” she said in a complaint lodged with Ujiyarpur police station. She had received the threat message from the mobile number 8051403479.

On March 25, health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey received a threat text message that said he would be knocked off in 48 hours if he did not cough up Rs 20 lakh. The police swung into action and found that the call was made by an unsuccessful filmmaker, Sunil Kumar Rai, to get rid of his girlfriend. Sunil had also threatened the Munger deputy inspector-general of police, the Khagaria superintendent of police and the district commissioner of Munger.

Last month, RJD MLA from Jagdishpur in Ara district Dinesh Kumar Singh received a text message threatening to kill him. Investigations revealed that a woman, Kanchan Devi, had committed the mischief to get rid of her daughter’s boyfriend.

“Whenever such cases come to the police, we find that the text messages are sent to implicate others. A threat text message to an MP or an MLA triggers quick reaction from the police,' said director-general of police Neel Mani. He said that suitable action was being taken against the culprits.