E-mail threats to 16 Rajasthan ministers: Anti-Terrorism Squad arrests 34-year-old man

Jaipur: A 34-year-old man was nabbed by Rajasthan's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team for allegedly circulating emails to 16 ministers threatening terror strikes within the state, a senior police official said on Sunday.

The accused identified as Sushil Chaudhary was held on Saturday night for circulating hoax messages impending terror strikes in the state and issuing threat mails to the ministers, they said.

"The accused was arrested by the ATS from his residence after Google provided us the IP address through which he circulated the mails. It was traced to a cyber cafe in Vidhyadhar Nagar here," ATS ADG Alok Tripathi told PTI.

"We were provided the IP address yesterday and the accused was held last night," Tripathi said.

"Prima facie there is no terror link and the accused is being interrogated to verify his motive," he said.

16 ministers in Rajasthan had received threatening messages on their official email IDs on December 22 prompting the police to further strengthen security arrangements in the state.

Read: 16 Rajasthan ministers receive IM’s email threat warning of attack on Republic Day

Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Arun Chaturvedi were among the Cabinet ministers and Ministers of State who received the emails.

The accused created a fake email id and sent the emails from a cyber cafe, ATS officials said.

The police had requested the email company to provide details of the email id which led to the arrest, they added.