A teenager in Uttar Pradesh was recently taken to a juvenile home by the police after officials traced a death threat against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath back to his mobile phone. The 15-year-old class 10 student who lives in an Agra village had allegedly threatened to "blow up" the CM via WhatsApp on the state helpline number.
Following the death threats, a police official posted with the helpline team had filed an FIR for alleged criminal intimidation. According to a report by The Indian Express, it took them less than 24 hours to trace the messages and the the boy in question was found by the police on Sunday afternoon and then taken away. The family had been unaware of the complaint until the police showed up, and believe that he had meant no harm.
Investigation is underway to ascertain the same, or whether anyone else had been involved. According to a Jagran report, the boy in question had said during interrogation that he had been angry about the restrictions created by the pandemic. His school was closed and he was not allowed to play sports outside the house. These had created resentment against the authorities, culminating in the threats. The messages have since been deleted and the police are now trying to recover it.
This is not the first incident of its kind. WhatsApp threats against the Chief Minister have also been reported in the past.
In May this year, for example, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad had arrested an individual from Mumbai for threatening to kill Adityanath. The UP police's social media helpdesk had received the threat (a bomb blast) via a WhatsApp message. The UP Police had alerted the Maharashtra ATS after the message was traced to Mumbai.
