Is whistleblower Ashok Khemka's life under threat?

Chandigarh, Nov 3: Is Whistleblower IAS officer of

, Ashok Khemka's life under threat? On Friday, Nov 2, Khemka said that he had got two threat calls within a fortnight and accused the

of not taking any action. Khemka is the same person who created a political storm when he alleged

in the land dealings of Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law

and DLF in Haryana.

Haryana police said it has arrested one person who allegedly made a threat call to Khemka.

Panchkula DCP Parul Kush Jain told PTI that Umaid Singh has been arrested after verifying the call details in this connection. Singh was an employee of the Haryana Housing Board and was dismissed from the service by Khemka in 2006 when he was administrator of the board, she said. The arrest had been made in Gurgaon, she said. Singh is a resident of Gurgaon.

Earlier, Khemka said, "I fail to understand why police is taking time to identify the caller...police is wasting precious time...it is unprofessional on the part of police." Khemka claimed to have received two threat calls. On whether he will press for security cover in the wake of threat calls to him, he said, "I don't think security cover will help in stopping such calls."

Police earlier registered an FIR under sections 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC against unknown person in connection with the threat calls and also sought help of cyber experts to track the caller. "The caller, according to the complaint, used abusive language and threatened Khemka," Nupur Bishnoi, in-charge of Panchkula's Sector 5 police station, where the complaint has been lodged, said.

A fortnight back, the 1991-batch IAS officer's friend and noted lawyer, Anupam Gupta had said that Khemka had received threat calls from unknown people. Khemka was transferred from Director General Consolidation of Land Holdings and Land Records-cum-Inspector General of Registration to his present posting in the State's Seed Development Corporation shortly after he initiated a probe into land dealings between Vadra and realty giant DLF.

Four deputy commissioners in Haryana gave "clean chit" to Vadra over his land deals. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday said senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka would be provided security cover.

The announcement follows two threats to Khemka within a fortnight and his request to the state government for security.

Talking to mediapersons in Panchkula, Hooda said he had already directed the chief secretary and director general of police to provide security to Khemka.

"It is the responsibility of the state government to provide security as and when required by anybody," Hooda said.

OneIndia News

(With inputs from PTI)