An office-bearer of the Maharashtra unit of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) has allegedly received a death threat from a man claiming to be fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari, police said today.
Gulzar Azmi, secretary of JUH's legal cell of Maharashtra unit, complained to police yesterday alleging that a man claiming to be Ravi Pujari rang him up at the office landline and gave death threats warning that he should not keep any association with the underworld don Chhota Shakeel, said the outfit's member Rahmatulla Qasmi.
Anil Madvi, senior inspector with J J Marg police station, said, "We have received a written application from Azmi yesterday, in which he alleged that Pujari threatened him. As a precautionary measure, a constable has been assigned the job to protect Azmi."
The probe into the matter has been transferred to Anti Extortion Cell of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch.
The threat comes days after BJP legislator Ashish Shelar, who is also party Mumbai unit chief, alleged on the floor of the House during the ongoing Maharashtra Assembly session in Nagpur, that JUH collects "huge" donations to fight cases for people arrested on terror charges and should be banned as it "promotes" terrorism. He also alleged that the outfit has links with the Chhota Shakeel gang.
However, the JUH rubbished all the charges saying that they were completely "false, baseless and defamatory". It has stated that it was providing legal assistance not only to members of its community, but also to non-Muslims held in serious crimes, including terrorism, who it believes are "innocent".
