Murder Convict’s Death Threat To CM A Serious Matter: Odisha Police

Cuttack: The Odisha Police on Tuesday said that it is taking the threat letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the sender of which was traced to Bilaspur Central Jail, very seriously.

Talking to mediapersons here, in-charge DGP and additional director general (ADG), Crime Branch, Santosh Upadhyay said the Odisha Police is in touch with its Chhattisgarh counterparts.

“We verified the matter with the authorities of the Central Jail who confirmed that a murder convict, Pushpendra Nath Chouhan, had sent the letter to the Chief Minister and he is mentally unsound. He has more than 40 cases pending against him in different police stations in Chhattisgarh. The jail authorities also informed that the murder convict has been posting such letters to remain in the limelight,” he said.

Upadhyay also said that the state police is in constant touch with the jail authorities and the Chhattisgarh police for further verification into the matter. “We are waiting for their reply since the origin of the case is Chhattisgarh,” he added.

The ADG also said that Chhattisgarh and the Odisha Police would conduct a joint probe into the matter.

On August 25, the Odisha Police had received the letter, in which the sender had asked the Chief Minister to pay a ransom of Rs 50 crore and threatened him with dire consequences if he failed to do so.

“Odisha Additional Director General (Intelligence) in a letter informed Bilaspur police about the threat letter written to the Odisha Chief Minister. Bilaspur Additional Superintendent of Police Neeraj Chandrakar interrogated Chouhan yesterday. He confessed to have written the letter to garner public attention,” Bilaspur Superintendent of Police Arif Sheikh told on Monday.

Chouhan, who hails from Janjgir-Champa district in Chhattisgarh, has been serving jail term in dacoity and murder cases since 2009, he added.