Kolkata man had also made threat calls to Maha CM, Pawar: ATS

A Kolkata resident, held on Friday for allegedly making threatening calls to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut recently, had also made similar calls at residences of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, state home minister Anil Deshmukh and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, ATS officials said here on Saturday.

A Kolkata resident, held on Friday for allegedly making threatening calls to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut recently, had also made similar calls at residences of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, state home minister Anil Deshmukh and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, ATS officials said here on Saturday. The accused, Palash Bose, had claimed himself to be a member of Dawood Ibrahim's gang while allegedly making these phone calls earlier this month, they said.

An official said Bose (49) had lived in Dubai for more than 15 years and returned to Kolkata a few years ago. "He made these calls by using a SIM card which he had procured from Dubai," he said, adding that Bose told investigators that he had also used international SIM cards to make these calls.

Police are trying to find out if Bose had any connections in Dubai, the official said. Police had registered a case under sections 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation), and 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the complaint of Raut, said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anti- Terrorism Squad, Vikram Deshmane.

Police had also added section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932, he said. "During investigation, ATS Mumbai received information from a reliable source that the accused is hiding in Kolkata, following which he was picked up from that city by a team led by police inspector Daya Nayak," he said.

Police recovered two mobile phones, four SIM cards-- three international and one domestic--from the accused, the DCP said. Another official said Bose's motive behind making these threat calls is under investigation.

He said Bose, a science graduate, had obtained phone numbers of politicians whom he had targetted from various websites. Mumbai Police were given the transit remand of the accused till September 14.

On Sunday, police had beefed up security outside Thackeray's residence 'Matoshree' in Bandra after an unidentified caller, claiming to be fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim''s aide, called the bungalow's landline number. State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had received threat calls on more than one occasion over his stance in connection with the controversy involving actress Kangana Ranaut.

Deshmukh had received the calls from Himachal Pradesh and another location from different numbers on Tuesday and at around 6 am on Wednesday, sources close to him had said, adding that the callers asked the minister not to get involved in the controversy. Earlier also, an anonymous caller had phoned Deshmukh's Nagpur office, threatening him and Sharad Pawar, a minister had said.

Kolkata Police had said that Bose claimed himself to be a fan of Ranaut. The Shiv Sena and the actress are engaged in a war of words after the latter recently likened Mumbai to Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (PoK) and also said she feared Mumbai Police more than the movie mafia.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is ruled by the Shiv Sena, on Wednesday pulled down some illegal alterations made at Ranaut's bungalow in suburban Bandra. The Bombay High Court later granted a stay..