Apr 15 (India Today) : Delhi Police have increased the security of Jawaharlal Nehru University students union president Kanhaiya Kumar and research scholar Umar Khalid after a pistol and some bullets, along with a letter threatening to kill them, was found on a bus they frequently use.
Police said they got a call around 6 pm on Thursday with the caller alerting them about the country-made pistol and four live cartridges found on the DTC bus when it was around the India Gate in central Delhi. The bus, numbered 605, plies between Vasant Vihar and Old Delhi railway stations; it runs inside the JNU campus until 1 pm.
The letter, signed by one Anil Jaani, spoke of rewards for whoever beheads Kumar and Khalid, who along with another PhD scholar Anirban Bhattacharya, were jailed for sedition following a massive uproar over an event held in JNU in memory of Parliament attacks convict Afzal Guru. They were released last month.
The police have registered cases under Arms Act and other sections with the Tilak Marg station and are investigating the matter. The university has also been alerted about the threat.
On Thursday, suspected Bajrang Dal activists had pelted stones and hurled a slipper at Kanhaiya Kumar in Nagpur but he escaped unhurt. Police later detained 10 men in connection with the attack.
Kanhaiya was in the Maharashtra town to address a function marking the 125th anniversary of BR Ambedkar whom he considers his idol, at the invite of Progressive Students Youth Action Committee.
Despite the X-level of security accorded to the student leader, Bajrang Dal activists were present to protest outside the Nagpur airport when he arrived and even when he went to the historic Deekshabhoomi to pay homage to Ambedkar.
The function itself was disrupted by loud slogan-shouting of "Kanhaiya Kumar Murdabad", "Kanhaiya Triator, Go Away", forcing police to bundle the protestors outside the auditorium. Later, when he was addressing the meeting and making strong criticism of the BJP and its ideological mentor, the RSS, an unidentified person hurled a shoe at Kumar, barely missing his target.
Nagpur houses the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and is home town of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.