Encounter plan made to kill me: Praveen Togadia justifies why he went missing

The VHP leader claimed that he fled from his office after he got reports that a plan was being hatched to kill him in an encounter.

JAIPUR: A day after he went 'missing' and was found in an unconscious state, Vishwa Hindu Parishad international working president Pravin Togadia moved to tears in front of the cameras claiming that efforts are on to silence his voice.

In a press conference on Tuesday, he claimed that he fled from his office after he got reports that a plan was being hatched to kill him in an encounter. "I am being targeted for a decade-old case. Rajasthan Police team came to arrest me. Someone told me a plan was being made to kill me in an encounter," he said.

"There have been attempts to throttle my voice, silence me. Ram Mandir, a law on cow slaughter and welfare schemes for farmers are the issues that I have spoken about. These are attempts to silence my voice," he said.

When asked who was planning to attack him, he refrained from blaming anyone and said that he will openly talk about the names with evidence.

Doctors have said that the condition of VHP leader is now stable. However, Togadia categorically stated that he will not leave the hospital until his health improves.

The VHP leader, a Z-plus category protectee, went "missing" on Monday morning after stepping out of the VHP headquarters in Paldi area of the city when a contingent of Rajasthan Police came to arrest him in an old case.

Togadia, who suffered from low blood sugar levels, was found in an unconscious state in Shahibaug area and was taken to Chandramani Hospital located in the same area.

Sola police station officials said a team of Rajasthan Police visited him to execute an arrest warrant against Togadia under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but could not find him at his residence.