Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel (File Photo)

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel has claimed that he had received a call on Tuesday evening from an unknown number with the caller identifying himself as the Maoist leader ' Ganapathy ' who indicated that “they want to support Congress in coming elections as they had done for BJP in last polls”.

Baghel told reporters that immediately he had called up superintendent of police of Durg district and informed about the call. “The caller identified himself as Ganapathy. When I asked him who Ganapathy is, he said he was general secretary of Maoists”.

Baghel quoted the caller as saying “ Pichli bar chunao mai humne BJP ki madad ki thi, is bar Congress ki madad karna chahte hai." (We helped BJP last time in elections and want to help Congress this time.) We have strong influence on 37 seats)

“I asked how should he believe that the caller is Maoist leader Ganapathy . He posed a counter question whether he had ever received a call from someone called Ganapathy? I said no. The caller added that nobody would dare to fake name of Ganapathy as he would be beheaded”. He also asked me to meet after a week.

Baghel said the conversation went on for few minutes the details of which he had provided to the police. “Initially, I thought that it can’t be Maoist but the true caller service displayed it as Ganapathy from Hyderabad”, he added.

“I feel there is something fishy. It could be a political trap”, the state Congress chief said and demanded a thorough investigation into the matter saying that Congress has been victimised through such political traps in the past and he also feared that it could be an attempt to target him.

Baghel said he felt it important to inform the police as it seems like someone playing a prank with me on the name of Maoists , hence, I called up Durg SP Sanjeev Shukla and narrated him the incident and later gave a written complaint, Baghel said. Baghel said that he received the call from 8008197569 number.

Reacting to the claim, chief minister Raman Singh said “The state Congress president has informed the police about receiving such a call. I am not in a position to comment on itl”

Ganapathy alias Muppala Lakshmana Rao is the leader of the Maoist movement and presently the general secretary of outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist). Ganapathy is one of the most wanted persons for his role in several Naxal activities.

The National Investigation Agency has announced a cash reward of Rs 1,500,000 for any information leading to his arrest. The total bounty on his head is the highest currently in India, which is Rs 36,000,000.

