Kerala: Security stepped up after State BJP chief receives threat letter ahead of PM Modi's visit

Kochi (Kerala) [India], April 22 (ANI): Kerala Police and security agencies have launched a probe into a letter threatening to launch a suicide bomb attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kerala BJP chief K Surendran said that he had last week received a letter which spoke of a conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to visit Kerala.
Surendran said that he had handed the letter, which was written in Malayalam, over to the Kerala Director General of Police (DGP) and the police are investigating.
"Actually, we gave it (letter) to the DGP and police and the SPG, Intelligence Bureau (IB) and all are inquiring into it," he said.
"Special Protection Group (SPG) is the most efficient security agency in the world. They will protect the Prime Minister's life always. So this threat is by various fundamentalist organisations and urban naxal. The people will definitely obey rules of the SPG during his (PM Modi) visit," said Surendran.
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 namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.
"The program will be a great success," said Surendran.
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 project 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. (ANI)