2 arrested in Uttarakhand for whatsapp char on killing Defence minister

Two persons were arrested on Monday from Uttarakhand over an exchange of messages on WhatsApp discussing a plan to allegedly kill Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her visit to the state.

The minister paid a visit to Dharchula town of Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand on Monday to inaugurate a mega medical camp organised by the Army on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday. His birthday is being celebrated as 'Seva Diwas'.

The police were alerted to the message at 9.30pm on Sunday. It is being probed whether the duo had any criminal background or possessed any arms and ammunition.

The two have been booked under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and Section 66 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, Pithoragarh SP Ramchandra Rajguru said. "We were alerted to the chat (about killing the defence minister) on a WhatsApp group at 9.30 pm on Sunday. We identified two persons between whom the chat was taking place and arrested them Monday morning ahead of the defence minister's arrival here," he said.

The controversial message sent by one of the arrested duo reads as, "Main shoot karunga Sitharaman ko, kal uska akhiri din hoga. ('I will shoot Sitharaman, tomorrow will be her last day')", police said.

The credentials of the admin of the WhatsApp group are also being looked into, the SP said. While the matter is still under investigation, Rajguru said that it appeared, prima facie, that the duo was drunk while they were chatting.

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