Coimbatore: Threat letter puts cops on high alert
The letter had a map of India with a picture of slain militant Osama Bin Laden
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-10-12 01:27 GMT
Coimbatore/Tiruchy: Police are on a high alert following a threat letter received from an ‘unknown’ outfit, ‘The Base Movement’ claiming affiliation to terrorist organization Al Qaeda to the Coimbatore Central Prison. Similar threat letters posted from Ukkadam in Coimbatore district were also sent to central prisons in Trichy, Madurai, Vellore and Chennai.
The letter had a map of India with a picture of slain militant Osama Bin Laden and a message in English, “Continues encroachment of Prison Department,,,, Distressed prisoners,,,,Closed eyes of government,,,, Inarticulate justice and courts,,,, Tamilnadu will be resonance,,, Our mission started,,, Count your days.”
The Coimbatore Central Prison received the threat letter on Oct. 8 claiming that the headquarters of the movement is in Kottaimedu in Coimbatore district. Police suspect the letter may have been sent by a few distressed prisoners to express their reservations against transfer of prisoners from Puzhal prison following an incident of assault.
The fundamentalists Panna Ismail, police Fakruddin and few others were transferred to prisons in Coimbatore, Tiruchy, Madurai and Vellore from Puzhal after they assaulted prison staff.
Police traced an office located near a Madrasa from where the letter was posted and a further probe is on. "We are yet to ascertain the source of the letter," a cop said. On receiving a complaint from Coimbatore Central Prison Superintendent D Palani, the Race Course police registered a case under IPC section 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) and further investigations are on.
Security beefed up in Central jails
Security measures have been beefed up in all six Central jails across Tamil Nadu, following the receipt of a threatening letter by the office of the superintendent of Central prisons here on Saturday.
Sources at the Central prison, Tiruchy said that a letter with the portrait of Osama Bin Laden, purportedly written by “Tibes Movement, Ukkadam, Coimbatore” said that the prison administration in Tamil Nadu was totally against Muslim jail inmates and was torturing them. “We are ready to attack. count your days,” the message warned. Prison authorities informed the office of the City Police commissioner and also gave a complaint at the K.K. Nagar police station.
Following this, security was tightened right from the Central prison entrance and at all vital points of all six Central prisons across Tamil Nadu, by posting gunmen on a round-the-clock basis, sources said.