The Madhya Pradesh Police on Monday arrested Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Uma Devi Khatik’s son Princedeep Lalchand Khatik after he threatened to shoot dead Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, The Indian Express reported.
“Jyotiraditya Scindia, you have Jiwajirao’s blood running in your veins, who killed Jhansi ki Rani,” Princedeep Khatik said in a Facebook post, according to IANS. “If you step in Hatta [a village in the state’s Damoh district], then I will shoot you. Either you will die or I will.” Scindia is scheduled to visit Hatta to hold a rally on September 5, months ahead of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.
Uma Devi Khatik said that she took her son to the police station after he made the threat. “What he has done is terribly wrong,” she said. “He should not have posted something like that. If something were to happen to the Congress leader, he would be the first person to be arrested. He should be taught a lesson, so I took him to the police station to surrender.”
Damoh Superintendent of Police Vivek Agrawal said a case was registered against Princedeep Khatik under sections of the Indian Penal Code relating to uttering obscene words, intentional insult, and criminal intimidation. Agrawal added that he has now been sent to judicial custody.
Scindia responded by claiming that Princedeep Khatik’s post has “exposed the mentality of the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and the real face of the party”, ANI reported. “The main objective of the party and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is to demolish Congress at any cost,” he alleged. “I would like to tell them that the Scindia scion never bowed down to such threats and will never do that as well.”
Scindia tweeted: “We [Congress] have the protection of the people and the commitment of our workers. I will fight for the rights of the people of Madhya Pradesh till my last breath. I will not cease working for the good of the people of Madhya Pradesh because of such comments.”
Former Madhya Pradesh minister and Congress leader Raja Pateriya claimed that the BJP is scared of Scindia’s “immense popularity”. He called for an immediate police investigation and additional security for Scindia.
Princedeep Khatik deleted the post later in the day, and apologised. He claimed he made the post “in a sudden rush of blood”, according to The Indian Express.
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