BENGALURU: Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths have arrested a 41-year-old printing press employee in Davanagere for sending threat letters to 15 Kannada writers and progressive thinkers.
The accused has been identified as Shivaji Rao Jadhav of Davangere. It is said that he sent the threat letters because the writers wrote and issued public statements on topics that were against a particular religion. Jadhav, who studied up to eighth standard, is an office-bearer of an organisation in Davanagere. The sleuths have obtained Jadhav’s custody for 13 days for further investigation.
Accused sent similar letters in the past: Cop
The Davanagere police had earlier registered two cases, including a molestation charge, against Jadhav, according to sources. “Some Kannada writers and progressive thinkers have received several threat letters in the past two years. Seven cases, including two each in Harohalli and Basaweshwaranagar and one each in Chitradurga, Kotturu and Sanjaynagar police stations, have been registered. Recently, a group of writers met the chief minister and the home minister and expressed their concern over getting such threat letters r e pe at edl y and were apprehensive about their safety and security.
The State Government handed over the seven cases to CCB for further investigation,” B Dayananda, Bengaluru Police Commissioner, told reporters. “The accused has confessed to the crime. He has also confessed to writing similar letters in the past to some persons holding prominent posts. The sleuths are probing this.
The two cases registered against him by the Davanagere police are yet to be confirmed,” the police commissioner said. Writers BL Venu, BT Lalitha Naik, Banjagere Jayaprakash and Vasundhara Bhupathi were among those who received threat letters from the accused.