A gym instructor was arrested from Kolkata for threatening Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut. (File)
A man in Kolkata who allegedly threatened and abused Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut was arrested on Thursday night by Mumbai policemen who travelled to the Bengal capital to track him down. Palash Bose, a gym instructor, is "a member of the Dawood (Ibrahim) gang", an anti-terror squad of the Mumbai police told a court which has granted a transit remand to take him to Maharashtra.
"Palash Bose allegedly told Sanjay Raut - 'I am calling from Mumbai. I am a member of the Dawood Gang. Stay away from the Sushant Singh Rajput case else we will show you and the Maharashtra government; you will be killed'," the Chief Public Prosecutor told a magistrate in Kolkata, quoting the First Information Report.
Bose, who lives in the posh Tollygunge area of south Kolkata, was traced after he made an internet call the Sena Rajya Sabha member reportedly between September 2 and 8. He soon found the Mumbai Police at his doorstep.
He has been booked for criminal intimidation. The police have also seized two international SIM cards, one Indian SIM card and two cellphones from his home.
He claimed to be a supporter of actor Kangana Ranaut, who is engaged in bitter political row with the Shiv Sena over her attacks on the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai Police over Sushant Singh Rajput's death and her comment comparing Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The Sena is furious at the actor for saying she felt unsafe in Mumbai. Just before her return to Mumbai after months at her hometown Manali, she was given Y-plus security by the central government.
On Wednesday, as she returned to Mumbai amid tight security, the Mumbai civic body partially demolished Ms Ranaut's office over alleged illegal alterations. Though the Bombay High Court later ordered a stop to the demolition, the office has been left damaged.
The actor has accused the Shiv Sena of using the Mumbai civic body to target her.
Sanjay Raut, the Sena's chief spokesperson, was on camera using a slur against her and saying she should stay out of Mumbai if she felt unsafe.