Kerala police investigating threat to PM

It's an e-mail threat that Kerala police isn't taking lightly, the e-mail threatened to attack Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Kerala.

Singh is scheduled to visit Kerala on November 1 to mark the Golden Jubilee of the state's formation.

Now sources say the email may just have been a prank but the security agencies in the state or at the Centre are taking few chances.

Kerala is on high alert now and the SPG in the capital held a two hour security drill to ensure they had the Prime Minister's security detail perfect as he heads for state's golden jubilee celebrations.

All the mails sent from the same address were mailed from an Internet cafe in Thiruvanathpuram.

It said that Dr Singh will be assassinated when he comes to Kerala next week on October 31.

Soon after, the police raided the cafe and took four people including the owner of the café a woman into custody. The café has been sealed and all computer systems are being examined

"We have located the source from where it was sent from a computer in the Internet cafe. There is an immediate threat to the Prime Minister and proposed threat to the president," said DGP, Raman Srivastav.

Afzal's release

The mail also asks for the release of Afzal Guru, the man sentenced to death in the Parliament attack case and Abdul Nasser Madhani, an accused in the 1999 Coimbatore bomb blast case, currently in jail.

The Kerala police startled by the sudden development went to an increased security mode with the Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan chairing a meeting of senior officials to review Dr Singh's security.

"The probe is being conducted by Cyber-Forensic Team and Hi- Tech Crime Cell. Also we have taken all measures to beef up security during Prime Minister's visit," said Balakrishnan.

Kerala has had no terrorist attack so far but intelligence agencies are now increasingly worried that certain fundamentalist outfits are using the state as a hideout.

After the e-mail threat, the central agencies have asked the state police to ensure maximum security in this area.