Mumbai, February 25: The Mumbai police have detained a 19-year-old student from Pune for allegedly putting up a threatening message on a social media platform regarding Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his MP son Shrikant Shinde. Shubham Warkad, a first year Bachelor in Computer Applications (BCA) student, is originally from Nanded and currently living in Pune.
A police officer said that a person identified as Abhay wrote a post on X on February 11 saying, “I want a photo with Eknath Shinde. I am planning to start hooliganism. I have some experience and hooligans can guide me”. Varkad replied to this post from his own account saying, “I will bring the gun for you, but Eknath and Srikanth should be the first target”.
Cyber Police Tracks Down Accused:
The Mumbai police immediately forwarded the post to the cyber police after. The Mumbai crime branch and the anti-terrorism squad swung into action thereafter, tracing the accused’s IP address connected to his Gmail ID, his mobile number and his location. A team from the crime intelligence unit subsequently rushed to Pune and arrested Warkad.
The police have registered a case against the accused under sections 506(2) and 505(1)(B) of the IPC. Further investigation is on. This incident is not the first time that the CM has faced threats.
Death Threats To CM:
In April 2023, the Pune police detained a 42-year-old man for allegedly threatening to kill Shinde. The suspect, Rajesh Agwane, who works as a ward boy at a hospital in Mumbai, made the threatening call to the police control room in an inebriated condition. In August 2023, the cyber police had arrested Kailash Kapdi, a resident of Dadar, for allegedly posting abusive messages about Shinde on X.
