Police to probe threat letters sent to progressive intellectuals: K'taka Home Minister G Parameshwara

Home Minister G Parameshwara on Thursday promised that the police will investigate the threat letters purportedly sent to progressive writers and intellectuals. 

Speaking to reporters, he said he had instructed the DG&IGP and the Bengaluru police commissioner to get to the bottom of the matter. 

About 15-20 intellectuals, known for speaking out against communalism and casteism, have been regularly receiving threat letters in Kannada with identical text and handwriting. 

Kum Veerabhadrappa, Banjagere Jayaprakash, Vasundhara Bhupathi, K Marulasiddappa and SG Siddaramaiah are among the writers who have received these letters. 

The letters warn that these intellectuals would meet the same fate as Prof MM Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh. Kalburgi was shot dead at his Dharwad residence on August 30, 2015, by a gunman who posed as his student. Gauri, a journalist known for her human rights activism, was gunned down on the doorsteps of her home in RR Nagar, Bengaluru, on September 5, 2017. 

Members of a Hindutva outfit are said to have been involved in both killings. Both cases are currently under trial. 

Parameshwara called the murders of Kalburgi and Gauri "bitter memories that cannot be forgotten". "Now that there's been a threat to intellectuals, we have to take it seriously," he said, but added it was too early to say who had sent the letters. "But we'll find out," he said. 

Marulasiddappa said the letters appear ominous and were delivered with regular frequency. Veerabhadrappa has received the most letters, while Jayaprakash received his first letter just a few days ago, he added. 

"There's no doubt that Hindutva groups are behind this. Why else would only writers opposed to communalism be getting these letters?" he said. 

The writers are scheduled to meet Parameshwara on Saturday.