Kerala Police arrest Hindu priest for allegedly threatening to kill President Ram Nath Kovind

P Jayaraman said he was inebriated when he made the call to the police control room.

A Hindu priest in Kerala’s Thrissur district was arrested on Monday for allegedly threatening to kill President Ram Nath Kovind. The president is on a three-day visit to the state.

The police said P Jayaraman, a priest at Chirakkal Bhagawati Temple in Thrissur, called the police control room at 1 am on Monday and threatened to plant a bomb at St Thomas College, where Kovind is scheduled to inaugurate the centenary celebrations on Tuesday.

“With the help of Pavaratty police, we traced the number from which the call was made within hours and we took Jayaraman into



custody,” The News Minute quoted unidentified police officials as saying. While Jayaraman said he was intoxicated when he made the call, his family claimed he was undergoing treatment for mental illness, reported the Hindustan Times. The police are questioning him now to ascertain his motive.

Kovind arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday evening. He will attend the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday and later hold a meeting with the chief justice of Kerala High Court in Kochi. The following day, he will attend the centenary celebrations at St Thomas College. He is scheduled to visit the Sree Krishna temple in Guruvayoor before flying to Delhi.