Threats calls to Uddhav, Raut: ATS files 450-page chargesheet

A 450-page chargesheet has been filed on Wednesday by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad, over five months after a gym instructor was held from Tollygunge area of Kolkata for making threat calls to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Sena MP Sanjay Raut. In the chargesheet, police claimed that the accused, Palash Bose, was disturbed over Maharashtra government's stand in Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death probe, which is why he issued the threats. According to police sources, Bose had Raut and Thackeray's office, using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), claiming to be an associate of the Dawood Ibrahim gang and warning them of dire consequences if they did not stop interfering in the probe of Rajput's death. Bose, who has worked in Dubai for 15 years, had access to Dubai-based SIM cards, which he used to make the threat calls.

Police said that he was reportedly disturbed after watching the news of the actor's suicide and felt that the state government was shielding the accused. After his arrest, the Maharashtra ATS had seized Bose's phone, which revealed the internet search history wherein he had sought information on Thackeray, Raut, and NCP Chief Sharad Pawar.

"We scoured his phone data and learnt that he had used a number of mobile applications to protect his identity and then make the threats. A primary probe revealed that he is not linked to the D-gang," said a senior ATS official. According to the chargesheet filed by the Maharashtra ATS, Bose has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for making statements conducive to public mischief (section 505), making statements creating/promoting enmity (section 505(2)), criminal intimidation by anonymous communication (section 507) and causing disappearance of evidence (section 201).