Madhya Pradesh cops in a tizzy over PM visit

“Mystery” calls from an Afghanistan number to high profile people including a senior intelligence officer in Bhopal ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to the city on Friday, have put security establishment here on its toes.

According to anti-terrorism squad inspector general of police Sanjeev Sharma, the calls were made from the number, 093729864241, to some prominent people in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, which included politicians, bureaucrats and even police officers.

The number, which appeared as ‘Terroristor’ in caller ID apps, is being displayed as a phone number from Afghanistan when checked through some application software. The number is being used to make phishing calls through proxy servers.

“These calls had nothing to do with the PM’s visit,” a press release by the ATS said on Thursday. “It could well be from a racket and a call-back will come at a premium,” an officer explained.

However, the police’s concern rest on the fact that some activists of banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) who had escaped from a jail in Bhopal recently, were still at large.

A videographed interrogation of some of the arrested SIMI members of MP module has led to disclosure about the banned outfit’s plans to target Mr Modi by taking some foreigners into hostage.

The PM, during his visit to the capital city, which would last for two-and-a-half hours, is scheduled for the inauguration of a war memorial besides an address to the retired defence personnel.