Swami Chakrapani Maharaj, who had set afire a car that purportedly belonged to Dawood Ibrahim in Ghaziabad, on Thursday claimed that he has received death threats from the underworld don.
Mr Maharaj, who claims allegiance to the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, said he received a telephone call and some text messages from two unidentified numbers. The callers warned that "I will be set ablaze the way I had burnt the car", he said.
Swami Chakrapani said he met Home Minister Rajnath Singh in this regard who offered him 'Z' grade security. He said he refused the security cover he is "not a political leader".
The car, a green-coloured Hyundai Accent sedan, which Dawood Ibrahim purportedly used in his heydays was set
ablaze earlier this month by Swami Chakrapani and Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha (ABHMS) activists with a poster of the fugitive gangster pasted on its windscreen, a fortnight after the ramshackle vehicle was auctioned in Mumbai for Rs 32,000.
The car was won by Chakrapani at an open auction for Rs 32,000 on December 9 in Mumbai, All India secretary and UP incharge of ABHMS Sanjeev Saxena said.
Addressing the workers, Chakrapani said that he wanted to convert the car into an ambulance but due to threats from the underworld, he decided to burn the car publicly.
The car's wreckage will be utilised to make toilet, which will be stationed at Hindan river crematorium if the district authorities permit him, he said.