Dhoni's security upped
India cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's family has received back-to-back extortion letters from suspected local criminals threatening harm if 50 lakh rupees were not paid following which police have stepped up security.
The first letter, written by a person claiming to be a member of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's gang, was received on December 29 and the second yesterday afternoon, family sources here said on Thursday. Both the letters were sent by post.
Under armed escort, 27-year-old Dhoni, along with his brother-in-law Gautam Gupta, drove to Jharkhand Armed Police premises and handed over the second letter to Inspector General SN Pradhan. The contents of both the letters were almost similar, the sources said.
Emerging from the hour-long meeting with senior police officers, Dhoni, who was in a t-shirt and jeans, just smiled but did not take any question from waiting reporters. He raised his thumb indicating that everything was okay before driving back to his residence at Mecon Colony, just a kilometre away. Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay joined midway through the meeting.
Earlier in the day, speaking about the first letter, Pradhan said police suspected it to be a job of "local criminals". The "letter originated locally from a colony which is very much inside Ranchi and not very far from where Dhoni lives".
He said, "The perceived threat from the underworld gangs is for the moment ruled out."
Police also said that the letter had warned about harm to the family if it approached them.
Meanwhile, the Centre asked Jharkhand government to tighten the Indian cricket captain's security in the wake of the two letters.
Meanwhile, after a day's hectic activity following the twin-letter threat, Dhoni on Thursday wished a Happy New Year to all his fans before boarding a flight, apparently to reach outstation assignments.
Sporting a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a pullover, the wicketkeeper said "Happy New Year to you all", when one of the fans wished him at the airport here.
His brother-in-law, Goutam Gupta, drove down the car to the airport with the security personnel escorting it. Keeping the security concerns in mind, the police did not disclose Dhoni's destination.
"Dhoni's tour programme was previously planned, but we don't know where he is going," said a senior police in the backdrop of one Taslim's extortion letters sent to Dhoni's family.
For the first time the administration deployed security personnel at Dhoni's residence as per the requirement under 'Z' category security.
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