FILE photo: Senior journalist Nikhil Wagle
A senior journalist who was allegedly going to be the next target of activist Govind Pansare's alleged killer has said he had rejected police protection despite knowing about the threats.
"They had a picture of Pansare and me crossed out in their magazine, it was always clear this would happen. The threats are not surprising," Marathi journalist Nikhil Wagle told NDTV.
The man arrested for Mr Pansare's murder, Sameer Gaikwad, has admitted to the police that Mr Wagle was the next target.
The journalist confirmed to NDTV that he has formally received an offer of security from Maharashtra police, but that he has turned it down.
"Last week, police officials came to me saying that the government has decided to offer security cover in view of general threat perception. However, they did not specify whether it was because of the threat from Sanatan" Mr Wagle said.
Gaikwad, a member of the rightwing group Sanatan Sanstha, was arrested last week for Mr Pansare's killing in February. Mr Pansare, 82, a CPI leader who was a well-known rationalist, died four days after he and his wife were shot at by unknown bikers near their home in Maharashtra's Kolhapur.
Gaikwad was tracked down allegedly through his mobile phone conversations with a woman and other friends. He was allegedly heard bragging about killing Mr Pansare.
According to the police, Gaikwad was heard saying on the phone that Mr Wagle is the next target after Mr Pansare.
In 2011, Mr Wagle hosted a TV show on Maharashtra's anti-superstition bill in which a member of the Sanatan Sanstha walked out in a huff. Since then, says the journalist, he has received numerous threats from the group. "The Sanatan Sanstha published my number in their magazine following which I got hate calls. They call me an anti-Hindu journalist. It was clear that they would target a secular journalist like me," he said.