Kochi: Police arrested the person who wrote a letter threatening to launch a suicide bomb attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Kochi scheduled for April 24. The accused has been identified as Xavier, said the police on Sunday. On Saturday, Kerala BJP chief K Surendran said that he had received a letter last week about a conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to visit Kerala.
"The person who sent the threat letter against the Prime Minister was arrested. Xavier, the accused was arrested yesterday. The reason is personal enmity. He wrote the letter to trap his neighbour. We found him with the help of forensics" - Kochi City Police Commissioner, K Sethu Raman said.
"Tight security has been arranged for the Prime Minister arriving in Kochi. 2060 policemen have been appointed for this purpose. As part of this, traffic control has also been imposed from 2 pm," the Commissioner added."15,000 people are expected at the Prime Minister's roadshow and 20,000 at the Yuvam-23 event. The participants of Yuvam-23 can bring mobile phones only," the Commissioner further stated.
Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to flag off Kerala's first Vande Bharat Express between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station on April 25. The train will cover 11 Districts: Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.
PM Modi will lay the foundation stone and dedicate various projects to the nation worth more than Rs 3200 crore. He will dedicate the Kochi Water Metro to the nation. This one of its kind projects connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with Kochi city, as per an official release. Apart from Kochi Water Metro, rail electrification of the Dindigul-Palani-Palakkad section will also be dedicated by the Prime Minister.
During the event, Prime Minister will also lay the foundation of various rail projects including the redevelopment of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Varkala Sivagiri railway stations; the comprehensive development of Thiruvananthapuram area including Nemon and Kochuveli and the increasing of sectional speed of Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section.
Apart from this, Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of the Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram. Digital Science Park is envisaged as a key research facility to develop digital products and services by industry and business units in collaboration with academia. As a third generation Science Park, the Digital Science Park will house common facilities to support the development of products in the area of Industry 4.0 Technologies like AI, Data Analytics, Cyber Security, Smart Materials etc.
The state-of-the-art basic infrastructure will support high-end applied research by industries and the co-development of products in association with the Universities. The initial investment for Phase-1 of the project is around Rs 200 crore while the total project outlay has been estimated at around Rs 1515 crore.
