A Kochi local who allegedly threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a letter during his two-day visit to the state commencing on Monday was detained by the Kerala Police on Sunday. M. Xavier, a Kaloor native, was the accused, according to the police. Investigators were told by Xavier that he wrote the letter in the identity of another person whose name and phone number were mentioned in it and against whom he harboured personal anger.
Kochi City Police Commissioner K Sethuraman told the media that the threat mentioned in Xavier’s letter was a hoax. “He (Xavier) wanted to trap another person. We arrested Xavier after collecting scientific evidence and conducting a forensic handwriting analysis,” he said. Launching an investigation into the threat letter, the police had tracked down a person named N K Johny alias Joseph John, whose address was mentioned in the missive which said Modi would face the fate of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Johny, a native of Kochi who also denied writing the letter, voiced his suspicion that someone with a vendetta against him was probably responsible for the occurrence. He pointed towards Xavier after noticing the penmanship in the letter. A disagreement at their respective churches over financial issues in the parish served as the catalyst for the hostility between the two.
PM Modi is scheduled to flag off Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station on Tuesday. He will also lay the foundation stone for projects worth more than Rs 3,200 crore, besides dedicating the Kochi Water Metro to the nation.