A day after Kerala BJP spokesperson Printu Mahadev issued death threat against Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Kochi police have intensified manhunt for the politician.
This comes a day after Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his controversial comments by Printu during a debate on Malayalam news channel New18 Kerala on Friday night.
Who is Printu Mahadev?
Printu Mahadev is a former Kerala president of the RSS student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
A BJP spokesperson (Printu Mahadev) issued an open threat during a TV debate. I don’t know why Kerala Police is not taking action. That’s why I wrote to HM Amit Shah.
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 29, 2025
Even the CRPF has repeatedly written multiple letters regarding threats to Rahul ji's safety, and one such… pic.twitter.com/Sm6EsUHnHo
He was booked under BNS sections 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 353 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation).
What did Printu Mahadev say?
During the TV channel debate on Friday night, Printu said that unlike in India, the ruling government in Bangladesh lacked support of people.
Disagreements in the political arena must be solved politically, within the Constitutional framework. BJP leaders, however, are giving death threats to their political opponents on live TV.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) September 28, 2025
Surely, @RahulGandhi ji’s vehement fight against the RSS-BJP ideology has rattled them.… pic.twitter.com/u3thQiA6Iv
"People of India are strongly behind the Narendra Modi government. If Rahul Gandhi has any such interest, there’s no doubt that a bullet shot would hit him," the BJP spokesperson said.
Following this, KC Venugopal in his letter to Amit Shah, said, "It is now your responsibility to clarify what your party and the government stand for. Do you openly endorse the politics of criminal intimidation, death threats and violence that are poisoning India’s public life?"
He added that the threat is "not just a careless outburst of a petty functionary; it is symptomatic of a deliberately cultivated, toxic atmosphere of hate that renders the LoP vulnerable to mindless violence."
