Threatening calls from 'Manmohan Singh'

The director of Super Cassettes Industries, which owns music label T-Series, has alleged that senior officers of the company have been receiving threatening phone calls in which callers introduced themselves as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Union Railways Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, Lok Sabha MP Shatrughan Sinha among others, police said on Tuesday.

Vedprakash Chanan, 60, who is the director of the company since 1983, told police that the company suspected a former employee’s involvement in the calls. Sources said Kishan Kumar, a resident of east Delhi’s Shakarpur, worked with the company as a temporary liaisoning consultant from September, 2011 to June this year.

“It is alleged that senior officers of the company in Delhi and Noida have been receiving the call for the past several months,” a police officer said.

Vedprakash told police that company representatives met Laloo Prasad Yadav and Shatrughan Sinha to bring the phone calls to their notice. “Yadav and Sinha, however, made it clear that no such calls were made by them,” the officer added.

Following their investigation, the company suspects that Kishan is behind the calls as most of the calls were made to favour him. The callers questioned senior officers as to why Kishan was not provided a personal office chamber with a separate phone line. They also threatened dire consequences if Kishan’s bills were not cleared soon.

Sources added that the callers told senior officers that they will use their political power to shut down the company and get their family members killed. “One of the officers has recorded a threatening call on his mobile phone in which the caller identified himself as Laloo Prasad Yadav,” the source said, adding the callers also used to pressurise the company to get audio albums released of unknown singers.

A case of criminal conspiracy, cheating by personation and criminal intimidation has been filed with crime branch over Vedprakash’s statement. He had also complained to Police
Chief Bhim Sain Bassi in August.