UP cabinet minister Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’ received death threats on his mobile phone and he had filed an FIR against the anonymous caller at the Hazratganj police station of Lucknow, said police officials on Friday. Nandi is the minister for industrial development, export promotion, NRI and investment promotion.
The officials said the call was made on his official number and it was received by his personal assistant on April 19 while the FIR was registered in the matter nearly after two weeks, on May 3, under the Indian Penal Code section 507 for issuing threat through anonymous communication.
Inspector in-charge of Hazratganj police station, Akhilesh Mishra, said that the FIR stated that the minister received death threats from two different phone numbers at around 5.55 pm and 6.05 pm on April 19. He said the calls were received by the personal assistant of the minister, Shailendra Singh.
He said the minister has urged the police in the FIR to trace the call detail records of the anonymous caller and take strict action against him. He said the help of an electronic surveillance team is being sought and a probe in the matter is underway. He said the police will soon trace the caller.
In 2010, the minister had faced a deadly bomb attack outside his house in Prayagraj, in which his police guard and a journalist of a national English daily lost their lives. In 2019, some unidentified miscreant allegedly threatened to kill him if he did not pay an extortion of ₹5 crore.