Two held for making threat calls to Maharahstra CM

One person has been arrested from Nashik and another detained from Jalgaon in connection with the threat call made at the residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.

"One Abdul Gani Shah has been arrested from Nashik. According to the preliminary inquiry, he made the call to the CM's residence from outside Dheolali railway station. We have recovered eight SIM cards from him and a diary containing the telephone numbers of several ministers," said Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Rakesh Maria.

Shah is presently in the custody of the Nashik railway police and would be produced before a court there, after which the ATS would take his custody. According to officials, Shah, before calling up Chavan's residence, had also called the Dheolali police station, threatening to blow up the railway station.

Meanwhile, the crime branch of the Mumbai police has detained one Harishchandra Yadav from Jalgaon, who has been brought to Mumbai for questioning. "The call made to the CM's residence has been traced to Harishchandra's mobile. We are still verifying if he had made the call or it was someone else," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy said.

A person, claiming to be member of the terror outfit Al Qaeda, called up the chief minister's official residence on Friday and sought to know the whereabouts of Chavan. The police had described it as a 'prank call'.