Anna Hazare ‘threatened’ for taking on NCP candidate

“We are yet to trace the caller or the location from where the calls were made. The case has been lodged against an unidentified person,” the official said.

Pathade said the caller also hurled abuses at Hazare. “He hung up every time we sought his identity. We ignored the matter when the first call came, but after repeated calls, we decided to lodge an official complaint on Wednesday.”

When contacted, Hazare said he hadn’t interacted with the caller himself but had been informed about the calls

Hazare and Patil have been at loggerheads since 2003, when the former launched an agitation seeking an inquiry into charges of corruption against the latter, who was then a Cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government. Patil was forced to resign in 2005 after a state appointed one-member panel found him guilty of corruption.

In 2009, the Parner police had registered a case against Patil and others after Hazare lodged a complaint alleging that Patil had given a ‘supari’ to kill him.

Ever since NCP declared Patil’s candidature, Hazare has been appealing to people to stand up against him to ensure “criminal and corrupt elements are kept out of Parliament”. He even sought permission to officially campaign against Patil, but local election officials declined it.