More journalists receive threat messages following Gauri Lankesh's murder

Moneycontrol News 

After journalist Gauri Lankesh, a critic of right-wing Hindutva politics and BJP was shot dead in Bangalore on September 5, a string of scribes from various media organisations have reportedly received death threats in India.

A number of journalists working in Delhi and Noida have received death threats sent on their WhatsApp, reports Scroll.in.  These messages, which are nearly identical, warn journalists that they will "not be spared” and will “be removed” if they are critical of Narendra Modi, BJP or the RSS.

Speaking to Scroll, Delhi Police spokesperson Madhur Verma said that three complaints have been lodged along with a First Information Report (FIR) by journalists who received the death threats. These death threats are allegedly threatening a fate similar to Gauri Lankesh's. One of the complaints is being handled by the police's cyber cell, although the police have been unable to locate the sources of these threats.

Another journalist, according to the online news site, also mentioned receiving a threatening phone call while several other reporters working in the national capital region (NCR) of New Delhi have also received threat messages but have not followed up with the police.

These messages seem to have been sent from different numbers.

On September 16, Deeksha Sharma working for The Quint received death and rape threats across social media platforms for her feature in a video where she criticised the lyrics of the song 'Bol naa Aunty Aaun kya'.

Among the threat messages received, one was completely unrelated to the song. The message, written in Hindi, said that anybody who went against the Modi government, BJP or RSS would receive the same fate as Gauri Lankesh. The letter also calls Lankesh an "anti-national", "anti-Hindu" and a "traitor", citing these as reasons to why the Hindutva forces allegedly killed her.

After the matter was registered with the Noida police, Quint removed the video.

The Quint has taken down the video criticising Omprakash Mishra's 'Bol Na Aunty Aau Kya' song. Here's why. pic.twitter.com/qLrbrjVtBa

— The Quint (@TheQuint) September 17, 2017

Times of India had asked Thomas to remove the word "fraud" and add official quotes to the story before ultimately pulling it down, as per a Newslaundry report.

Thomas told the website that her article was probably not the only reason for the threats as she is quite active on social media platforms criticizing right-wing forces in India.

On September 21, Firstpost reporter Debobrat Ghose received the same message from three different numbers. But after a threatening phone call, he registered a complaint with the police.

Abhay Kumar working for Asian News International and the Western Uttar Pradesh correspondent for The Hindu, Mohammad Ali have also received similar threats.

I have been receiving this repeatedly from unknown untraceable numbers on WhatsApp! Apparently many people r getting this message! pic.twitter.com/5XKDCt2Qws

— Mohammad Ali (@hindureporter) September 21, 2017

When tried to be contacted, all the numbers from which these messages were received have been "switched off" or "out of reach".

Gauri Lankesh's murder follows the killing of rationalists like MM Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar, who have been critical of Hindutva right-wing faction in India.