On the evening of June 7, Dr. Puniyani and Dr. Smita Puniyani met Vinoy Kumar Choubey, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order). This was in wake of threatening phone calls to the former IIT Bombay professor’s house the previous night.
The caller, who used extremely offensive language alleged that Dr. Puniyani was “anti-Hindu” and threatened him with dire consequences if he didn’t stop his activities and leave within 15 days.
Speaking to Sabrang India after the meeting, Dr. Puniyani said, “My family and I felt reassured after their meeting with the Joint CP.” The issue of providing security to Dr. Puniyani will be taken up on June 8, 2019 with the DCP Sangramsinh Nishandar. The investigation will be monitored by the DCP for now. “The Joint CP has instructed the DCP to increase the area security for now, assured us he will consider granting security and also asked part of the investigations in terms of tracing the telephone number to be handed over to the Cyber Cell,” added Dr. Pinuyani.
During his meeting with Jt Commissioner Choubey, Dr. Puniyani was accompanied by a delegation of civil society members including Irfan Engineer, Sujata Gothoskar, Sandhya Gokhale, Feroze Mithiborewala, Geeta Seshu and Lara Jesani. They condemned the threats and demanded a thorough inquiry into the case. The following communique was released after the meeting.