Threat calls to Haryana MLAs: Matter handed over to STF, says Vij

CHANDIGARH: In the wake of five Haryana MLAs allegedly receiving threat calls recently, state's Home Minister Anil Vij on Sunday said the matter has been handed over to the Special Task Force for further investigation and he is daily monitoring the developments connected with the probe.

Notably, while one MLA who received threat call is from the BJP, the remaining four are from main opposition Congress and most of the calls pertain to extortion threats made over mobile phones of the legislators from unknown numbers.

''We have handed over the matter to the Special Task Force for further investigation. And STF is working on this and I am daily monitoring the developments connected with the probe,'' Vij told reporters in Sonipat.

He said the STF is making progress in the case, ''but at this stage, I cannot share details in public''.

Replying to a question that opposition has alleged law and order has broken down in the state, Vij said all these calls to legislators are coming from abroad.

Last month, BJP MLA Sanjay Singh had allegedly received an extortion call in which the caller identified himself as an associate of notorious Neeraj Bawana gang and demanded Rs 5 lakh. According to a complaint later filed by Singh, he had also got an extortion message on WhatsApp on June 25.

Among the Congress MLAs, Safidon legislator Subhash Gangoli had on Friday lodged a complaint with Haryana police citing threat to his life. He had stated that he received a threat message demanding Rs 5 lakh on his mobile from a Dubai number. Congress MLA from Sonipat Surender Panwar too had earlier received a threat call from Dubai and the caller had demanded ransom from him.

On Friday, five men had allegedly barged into the Pataudi house of Badli's Congress MLA Kuldeep Vats when he was not there and roughed up his cook threatening to set the legislator ''right like Sidhu Moosewala,'' police had said.

The cook told the police that the accused said that he should warn Vats that the legislator should not make any comments about gangsters or he will face the fate of Sidhu Moosewala, the Punjabi singer who was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Punjab's Mansa district on May 29.

Reacting to this particular case, Vij said he spoke to the Superintendent Police of the district and the State DGP.

''We will catch the culprits,'' he said referring to the five men who barged into Pataudi house of Vats.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Jind, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the law and order in the state had collapsed during the BJP-JJP government. He alleged the state has become a safe haven for criminals now and the situation is such that neither the common man nor the MLAs are safe.

Referring to the MLAs receiving threats, Hooda, who is Leader of the Opposition, said ''the police have not been able to do anything''. ''Due to the unsafe environment in the state, industrialists are reluctant to invest here. Hence industries and projects are continuously migrating from Haryana to other states. The youth of the state are facing the brunt of this in the form of unemployment,” he said. Earlier on Friday, senior Congress leader Kumari Selja had met Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya here and informed him about the legislators from the state receiving 'threats' in recent weeks.

During the meeting, Selja urged the Governor to direct the state government to immediately enhance security of these MLAs and nab the culprits at the earliest.