Varanasi judge receives threat letter; govt beefs up his security

The Uttar Pradesh government has increased the security of civil judge (senior division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar, who ordered the survey of Gyanvapi mosque, after he received a threat letter from an organisation called 'Islamic Aghaz Movement'.

Official sources said on Wednesday that immediately after receiving this letter through a registered post, the civil judge alerted the additional chief secretary (home), director general of police and commissioner of police, Varanasi.

Varanasi commissioner of police A. Satish Ganesh said, "After being alerted by the civil judge regarding the letter, which also has many attachments, the deputy commissioner of police (Varuna zone) has been assigned to probe the matter."

Security of the civil judge in Varanasi and his mother in Lucknow is also being reviewed, he said.

He added that proper security cover has also been provided to the district judge.

In the handwritten letter, one Kasif Ahmed Siddiqui who claimed to be the president of 'Islamic Aghaz Movement', said that "judges have also turned saffron amidst a divisive political scenario".

The letter also contains derogatory remarks for the Prime Minister and former Chief Justice of India.

In one of his orders issued on May 12, the civil judge had earlier stated, "An atmosphere of fear has been created in an ordinary civil case. My family and I are living under fear."