Ranchi: A city criminal claiming to be a henchman of international gangster Dawood Ibrahim threatened India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s family for money, said the police on Wednesday.
Mohammad Tasleem threatened to blow up the cricketer’s residence in Ranchi if he was not given Rs 50 lakh. Tasleem allegedly sent two letters to Dhoni’s residence: one on Monday and another on Wednesday.
The family handed over the first letter to police in Ranchi and soon after Dhoni's security was increased to ‘Z category’, the highest.
Superintendent of Police Sampat Meena told reporters on Wednesday the extortion threat was the “handiwork of local criminals”.
''Tasleem, who sent the ransom letter, is a local criminal and he is mainly involved in extortion. Tasleem has not been seen here for past few weeks,'' said Meena. Tasleem’s claim of being Dawood’s henchman is being investigated.
Deputy Chief Minister Sudhir Mahto said his government would do its best to arrest Tasleem and protect Dhoni, who arrived in Ranchi on Tuesday to celebrate the New Year with his family.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Sri Prakash Jaiswal told CNN-IBN he asked Jharkhand’s police chief to ensure Dhoni’s security.
When Dhoni was last in Ranchi, he was reportedly unhappy with his constricting security cover and travelled from his home to the airport without any bodyguards.
However, with renewed concern about his security, Dhoni has applied for a prohibited bore (PB) arms licence. He has a non-PB licence already.
(With inputs from UNI and IANS)
Comments
0 comment