Some towns of Uttar Pradesh are apparently on the target of a Maoist outfit. This was disclosed in a letter received by the editorial department of a well-known Hindi daily in Lucknow on Friday evening. It bears the signature of dreaded Maoist Munna Vishwakarma, who carries a reward of 2 lakh.
The handwritten letter addressed to chief minister Mayawati seeks to urge chief minister Mayawati to start holding a daily morning 'janata durbar' that was a traditional affair at the residences of successive chief ministers and discontinued by her and her predecessor Mulayam Singh Yadav.
"If you do not start holding 'janata durbar' where the downtrodden masses could directly convey their plight to you, we would be constrained to carry out blasts in different cities of Uttar Pradesh,", the letter warns.
"We plan to make the first strike in Unnao, which would be followed by Kanpur , Lucknow and then
other cities", it says, while adding that the outfit would particularly target prominent people.
Significantly, Vishwakarma, who hails from the Maoist affected Sonbhadra district in the South Eastern part of the state, got the letter dispatched by speed-post from Unnao, barely 50 km from Lucknow.
The letter seeks to explain that it were mostly dalits and other downtrodden classes who had taken to Maoism , largely because of the injustice meted out to them . "That is the reason we want the chief minister to throw open her doors to common people so that they could take their grievances to her", it adds.
Additional director general of police Brij Lal however described the letter as "fake". The letter was neither on a letter-head nor mentions the name of any Maoist outfit. At the foot of the letter, Munna Vishwakarma has signed as "Maoist Commander", "carrying a reward of Rs. 2 lakhs."