Pathankot man arrested for issuing bomb threat leaflets
The police on Sunday arrested a man for scattering threatening pamphlets on Daki Road in Balaji Nagar in Pathankot
PATHANKOT : The police on Sunday arrested a man for scattering threatening pamphlets on Daki Road in Balaji Nagar in Pathankot.
The accused has been identified as Nitin Mahajan, a resident of the same area.
“On July 20 morning, information was received that an abandoned Innova with Himachal registration number was found vandalised at Daki Road at Balaji Nagar in Pathankot. The vehicle’s windshield was shattered and handwritten leaflets in Hindi were found scattered around the area. These notes contained threats of bomb blasts in Pathankot within five days, claiming involvement of 100 individuals, with 30 already present in the city. The messages concluded with slogans of Pakistan zindabad,” Pathankot senior superintendent of police (SSP) Suhail Qasim Mir said.
The SSP added that Mahajan reported that he heard suspicious noises outside his house in the wee hours of Saturday and saw some people fleeing the scene while shouting “Khalistan zindabad” slogans.
The Innova, which belonged to one Suresh Kumar, had been left unattended for over two months at the spot. “The police initiated a preliminary inquiry, focusing on the threatening leaflets,” the SSP said.
The police traced the origin of the pamphlets to Mahajan’s shop. “After questioning, Mahajan admitted to concocting the story to get the Innova towed by police, saying he was frustrated by the abandoned vehicle in front of his shop for the past two months. He initially broke the car’s windshield. To sensationalise the matter and expedite the removal of the vehicle, he scattered threatening leaflets, anticipating police intervention,” the SSP added.
Pathankot district borders Kathua of Jammu and Kashmir. Five army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer, lost their lives, and five others sustained injuries in a terrorist ambush on a routine patrol vehicle near Badnota village in Kathua district on July 8.
Last month, police were put on high alert after a villager claimed to have spotted two suspicious men in a Pathankot village.
“A first information report has been registered under Sections 217 (false information) and 152 (acts endangering sovereignty unity and integrity of India) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita against Nitin Mahajan, and he has been arrested,” said DIG (border range) Rakesh Kaushal. “The police are committed to expose such bad elements who create panic in the society,” he added.