Teen held for threatening cricket team with life threatening messages

Braja Mohan Das

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Tuesday arrested a 19-year-old first year Bachelor of Science student, Braja Mohan Das from Assam, for allegedly sending life-threatening messages to players of the Indian cricket team on the official mail ID of the Board of Cricket Control India (BCCI). He also sent similar messages to three cricket boards of other countries. Even though investigation has revealed that he is a brilliant student, his parents approached the cops with an application stating that he was suffering from some mental illness for which he was undergoing treatment.

According to the ATS, on August 16 BCCI received an email, which threatened to kill the players of the Indian cricket team. The content of the email was very sensitive in nature. Following this, the ATS registered an FIR against an unknown person. An officer said, "The accused was identified and traced to Morigaon district in Assam. Teams were sent to the location and with the help of the local police they arrested him from his residence. Some electronic equipment used in committing the offence were seized from his house."

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Police said Das was arrested under sections 506 (II) and 507 of IPC and Section 7 of Criminal Law Amendment Act 1932. After a transit remand from the local court in Assam, he was brought to Mumbai and produced before the Mazagaon court. He was then sent to ATS custody till August 26. "Investigation has revealed that he sent similar emails to three cricket boards of other countries. We are still trying to find out his intentions behind sending the mails as they were very sensitive in nature," the officer added.

According to the Assam police, the accused had no criminal background and had performed really well in his higher secondary and metric examinations. "Following his arrest, his family members came to us with an application saying that he is suffering from some mental illness for which he is undergoing treatment. The application has been sent to the Maharashtra ATS and we are also verifying the same," said an Assam police officer. Another ATS officer said, "The accused have been putting up pictures of the Indian cricket team as his profile pictures since 2016. His timelines also show that he is a big fan of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli."

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