In a bizarre incident, a 19-year-old student from West Bengal's Murshidabad district, on Monday, received an offer on WhatsApp to help assassinate chief minister Mamata Banerjee for a reward of $100,000 (Rs 65 lakh).
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The polytechnic student from Behrampore said he got the message from an unknown number.
The preliminary investigation traced the number to Florida, United States. Meanwhile, the West Bengal CID has started probing the incident.
Contacted by terror outfit?
The student was contacted on Monday afternoon by a person who claims to be a member of a terrorist outfit.
"I started receiving the messages from somebody, who identified himself as Latin, soon after 1pm on Monday. He said he works for a terrorist organisation and is looking for a partner in India," he told Times of India.
The sender of the WhatsApp message, whose identity is yet to be confirmed said, "We will pay you $100,000 for helping us. You will be safe don't worry. Are you ready?"
However, the student had asked the sender to wait. But the sender told him to hurry up and tried to lure him with money.
"Ok. Do fast or else we will choose another guy. Don't let $100,000 go away," the sender wrote.
This communication occurred at 1.10 pm, following which the student wrote, "No, thanks."
The sender called the student a loser after he came online at 2.46pm. The sender also informed the student that he was planning to visit India, TOI reported.
When the student told him that he loves his country and don't want to see it destroyed, the person replied, "We will not destroy India. We just want to kill one person."
Cops ignore complaint
According to the English daily, when the student approached Berhampore Police Station, the police there asked him to ignore the messages and switch off the phone instead.
"The officer asked me to switch off my phone and told me everything will be alright. I wanted to lodge a complaint but he refused to accept it," the student told News18.
"I told him that the sender threatened to kill the CM but they still didn't file any complaint," he added.
The police realised the gravity of the situation when the sender sent a screenshot of the student's location when he was about to leave the police station and also threatened to kill him as he approached the cops.
