Supposed Maoist outfit warns Mayawati

LUCKNOW - A supposed Maoist group has threatened violence in Uttar Pradesh, but police say it is a fake threat.

The editorial department of a known Hindi daily Friday received a letter bearing the signature of Maoist leader Munna Vishwakarma, who carries a reward of Rs.2 lakh on his head.

The handwritten letter, addressed to Chief Minister Mayawati, asks her to start holding a daily morning ‘janata durbar’ that was discontinued by her and her predecessor Mulayam Singh Yadav.

“If you do not start holding ‘janata durbar’ where the downtrodden masses could directly convey their plight to you, we would be constrained to carry out blasts in different cities of Uttar Pradesh,” the letter warned.

“We plan to make the first strike in Unnao, which would be followed by Kanpur, Lucknow and other cities,” it said.

Vishwakarma, who hails from the Maoist affected Sonbhadra district in the southeastern part of the state, got the letter dispatched by speed post from Unnao, barely 50 km from here.

The letter says that it was mostly the Dalits and other downtrodden classes who had taken to Maoism, largely because of the injustice meted out to them.

Dismissing the latter as “fake”, Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal said: “Apparently someone has used Vishwakarma’s name to shoot off this letter. We are confident Vishwakarma is hiding somewhere far away.”