MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar has received a “death threat” on social media, NCP claimed on Friday and appealed to party workers to maintain “peace at all costs”.

A delegation of NCP workers led by Pawar’s daughter and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule met Mumbai police chief Vivek Phansalkar demanding action. The NCP leaders told the police that 82-year-old Pawar received a message on social media that read “he will meet the same fate as (Narendra) Dabholkar soon”.

Narendra Dabholkar, who fought against superstitious beliefs, was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants during his morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013. Sule submitted printouts of the screenshots of the death threat to the police.

A senior police official told that they are looking into it. We have started a probe. Mumbai police have registered an FIR under Indian Penal

Code sections 153 (wantonly causing or provoking any riot through illegal means) and 506 (II) (issuing threat to cause death or grievous hurt), said a senior official.

Meanwhile, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar said the threat message was sent by one Saurav Pimpalkar whose social medial profile says he is a BJP supporter. Instead of misusing the freedom of expression, one should fight the ideological battle in a dignified manner, he said talking to reporters.

Ajit Pawar said social media platforms are being deliberately misused to malign political leaders, post fake news and create divisions in society. As the news about the threat to

“Pawar saheb” spread, anxious NCP workers began calling senior leaders about his safety, said party spokesperson Mahesh Tapase. He said that a threat to the NCP chief is a threat to secularism. “We have instructed our workers to maintain peace at all costs.”

Raut and his brother received death threat calls; two detained

Two persons were detained here after Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Friday said he and his MLA brother Sunil Raut had received death threat calls and asked the Maharashtra government to take them seriously. Both the persons were apprehended from the eastern suburb of Govandi, a senior official said. Sunil Raut had received a call in which the person on the other side threatened to shoot him as well as his brother Sanjay Raut.