Sanjay Raut, his MLA brother receive death threat calls, Sena leader asks govt to take them seriously

File Photo/PTI

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut Friday said he and his brother Sunil Raut, who is an incumbent Member of Legislative Assembly, had received death threat calls and asked the Maharashtra government to take them seriously.

He also said Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar getting a threat on social media was a serious issue, adding moves were afoot to instil fear in the opposition.

"The government should take it (threat calls to him and his brother) seriously and not me. The government wants such threats. The matter is with the police and they will have to look into it," he told reporters.

"Sunil Raut received a threat. I didn't file any complaint. We are not worried about it," claimed Raut, who has received threats in the past as well.

On Friday, the NCP claimed 82-year-old Pawar received a message on Facebook threatening him with a fate similar to anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar, who was shot dead in Pune on August 20, 2013.

Also read: Maharashtra govt orders probe into death threats to NCP Chief Sharad Pawar

Speaking on the threat to Pawar, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said the threat is a move to instil fear in the opposition or "terrorise" its leaders through Central agencies.

"There is an invisible force behind them which the 40 people (Sena MLAs including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde) used to call super power. It is destroying the state for political purposes," Raut said, a possible reference to the Bharatiya Janta Party. (PTI)