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Maharashtra govt asked to beef up Amitabh Bachchan's security

The Union home ministry has asked the Maharashtra government to beef up security cover of cine superstar Amitabh Bachchan after he wrote a letter to Home Minister L K Advani stating that he had received threatening calls.

It has asked the Maharashtra government, which had downscaled Bachchan's security cover, to restore the security cover given to him earlier, official sources said in New Delhi said on Saturday.

Bachchan, who is also anchoring the popular television programme Kaun Banega Crorepati, had written to Advani that he was receiving threats on his personal mobile phone.

In his letter, Bachchan has expressed fears that he might be kidnapped in the same fashion as Kannada superstar Dr Rajakumar, who had had been abducted and held hostage along with three others by forest brigand Veerappan.

The Bombay police has of late received intelligence reports that cine stars, including Bachchan, Dream girl of yesteryears Hema Malini and Tragedy king Dilip Kumar, might be kidnapped to secure the release of some detenus arrested under the Terrorist And Disruptive Activities Act after the Bombay blasts (in 1993), the sources said.

Bachchan had also voiced concern over the safety of his son Abhishek, who recently joined films, and his wife Jaya, who had resumed her acting career.

The sources said armed guards have been posted at his Bombay residence and also at his house in Delhi.

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