Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha candidate Varun Gandhi was shifted from the prison in Pilibhit to a jail in Uttar Pradesh's Etah town early on Wednesday, an official said.
Varun Gandhi was shifted to Etah at around 0130 hrs (IST) "for security reasons", said jailor of the Piliphit district jail, Mukesh Arora.
The decision came barely a few hours before the shutdown called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in the entire Bareilly region to protest Varun Gandhi's detention under the National Security Act (NSA).
On Sunday the Mayawati government had invoked the NSA against Varun Gandhi for his reported hate speeches and mob violence during his arrest on Saturday.
Anyone booked under NSA cannot get bail for at least six months. This time frame can extend up to a year.
Contrary reports suggest that the decision to move Varun to Etah jail was triggered after the Intelligence Bureau (IB) unearthed a plot to kill him.
According to reports, the IB intercepted orders by Chota Shakeel for the elimination of the BJP candidate from Pilibhit.
Shakeel reportedly sent for his key shooter for this special assignment.
As a result of IB's tip-off, the state home department ordered more than a dozen policemen - headed by a DSP and two Sub Inspectors - to surround Varun's vehicle as soon as it left Delhi for Pilibhit on March 28.
Varun, however, was unaware of the threat when he set out to court arrest. There was panic when Varun had changed cars enroute and slipped off the radar for sometime.
Meanwhile, prisoners say that no luxuries are being afforded to Varun in jail. He is being given regular prison food as there was no court order to permit home food being brought in.
Superintendent in Etah Jail, Virash Raj Sharma spoke to CNN-IBN about the security arrangements at the detention center.
He said, “We have deployed extra forces but the problem is the people who are coming to meet him -- the public is coming, and they have been identified as BJP workers. With Maneka about 500 came. I tried to push them out and we took in only 3. Varun has been kept in isolation. We are giving him simple treatment, it is a small room.”
Five suspects have been arrested from Mangalore in connection with the threat perception to Varun Gandhi and police are homing in another suspect in Haryana.
Police say that apart from Varun Gandhi, Shri Ram Sene leader Pramod Muthalik is also said to be on the D-company hitlist.
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