Rajasthan Police lied, tweets angry Rushdie

Jaipur: An angry Salman Rushdie Sunday accused the Rajasthan Police of concocting a supposed death threat to keep him away from the Jaipur Literature Festival. The police have refused to comment.

"I`ve investigated, and believe I was indeed lied to. I am outraged and very angry," Rushdie posted on micro blogging site Twitter. He said he did not know who gave the orders to police to come up with the lie. "Don`t know... Yes, I guess the same police who want to arrest Hari, Amitava, Jeet and Ruchir. Disgusting," wrote the controversial writer of Indian origin. Authors Hari Kunzru, Amitava Kumar, Jeet Thayil and Ruchir Joshi read passages from "The Satanic Verses" on the first day of the festival, after Rushdie pulled out of the event citing threats to him. Rajasthan Police have sought a copy of the video from the organisers of the festival of the session hosting Kunzru and Kumar in which the two read excerpts from the book, a police source said. Muslim groups have threatened to move the court against the four writers. Rajasthan Police has stepped up security at the Diggi Palace, the venue of the five-day literature festival that began Friday. Police refused to comment on Rushdie`s charge that it concocted the story about assassins from the Mumbai underworld had been hired to kill him in Jaipur. The sources said they had intelligence inputs about the threat to the author. "The Satanic Verses" is banned in India and some Muslim organisations have opposed Rushdie`s visit to the festival. IANS