Security beefed up for Orissa CM Patnaik after e-mail threat

BHUBANESHWAR - Orissa Police have beefed up Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is security, and other important targets of Maoists following a threatening mail received here on Sunday.

The e-mail warned Patnaik to stop the anti-Maoist ‘Operation Green Hunt’ and not seek deployment of extra forces against Maoists. Reportedly sent by the PLGA (People’s Liberation Guerilla Army), it threatened to blow up the Chief Minister’s residence and other important buildings across Orissa.

Police have registered a case with the cyber police unit.

“A case has been registered in the cyber police station in the view of this threat to the CM (Chief Minister). Investigations are on and we will take action accordingly,” said M. M Praharaj, Director General, of Police, Orissa.

Recently, the official website of the Chief Minister’s office was also hacked.

Police officials suspect both these actions are the handiwork of some professional hackers. The cyber cell along with the state police is trying to ascertain the source of these emails.

“The police are investigating the matter and let us await their findings,” said Patnaik.

This is the third vicious e-mail received by Patnaik by Maoists this year.

The Maoists, described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the country’s biggest internal security threat, started their armed struggle in West Bengal’s Naxalbari town in 1967, and have expanded their support among farmers by tapping into resentment at the government’s pro-industry push.

They have spread into rural pockets in 20 of India’s 28 states and the movement has hurt business potentially worth billions of dollars in mining industries in central and eastern India.

The rebels carried out more than 1,000 attacks last year, killing more than 600 people, and disrupted movement of coal and bauxite in eastern and central parts of India worth millions of dollars. (ANI)