Drunk man booked for calling cops with 'info' on threat to Eknath Shinde's life, was 'angry' with hotel owner

The drunk man made the call to "teach a lesson" to the owner of the hotel for overcharging him for a bottle of water.

New Delhi: A drunk man has been booked for calling up the police control room claiming a "plot" to kill Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at a hotel in Lonavala in Pune district, an official said on Sunday (October 2, 2022). According to the investigation, the drunk man, Avinash Waghmare, made the call on Saturday to "teach a lesson" to the owner of the hotel for overcharging him for a bottle of water.

Waghmare, who was travelling from Ghatkopar in Mumbai to Sangli in a private bus, allegedly made the call on Saturday to the control room claiming a plan was being hatched in the Lonavala hotel to kill the chief minister, the official said.

He later admitted that he was drunk when he made the call to get the police on the trail of the hotelier with whom he had quarreled for being overcharged for a bottle of water, the official stated.

Pune (Rural) Superintendent of Police Abhinav Deshmukh said that the man asked the police to visit the hotel as soon as possible and boarded the bus and left for his destination. 

"We have filed a non-cognizable case against Waghmare under Indian Penal Code section 177 (knowingly furnishing false information to a public servant)," Deshmukh said.

The development comes a day after the State Intelligence Department (SID) received a specific input about the threat to the life of Shinde, State Intelligence Commissioner Ashutosh Dumbre had said.

"After specific information, we have taken necessary action and have increased the security of the chief minister," Dumbre told news agency PTI.

Additional security has been provided to the CM, who enjoys a Z Plus category security cover, he said, adding that security has also been stepped up at Shinde's private residence in Thane and the official residence 'Varsha' in Mumbai.

No one can stop me from being among people: Eknath Shinde on receiving death threats

Meanwhile, Eknath Shinde on Sunday said that he is a man of masses and that no one can stop him from being among people.

"Even when I was not the chief minister, I had received threats from Naxalites, anti-national elements. I am a man of masses and no one can stop me from being among people," he said.

"No one should try to do any such thing," Shinde, who became the chief minister on June 30 this year after his rebellion with Shiv Sena MLAs led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, said.

Meanwhile, he is scheduled to address his first Dussehra rally at MMRDA grounds in Mumbai on October 5.

(With agency inputs)