Threats from foreign phone numbers, the judge in Gyanvapi claims

BAREILLY: “Malicious calls and death threats from international numbers” have prompted additional sessions judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar to voice concerns. The court has requested a probe into the threats against him. The judge made headlines in 2022 when he ordered a videography study of the Gyanvapi compound. Earlier, the Allahabad High Court had ordered Y-category protection for him and his family, which was then dropped to X-category, in response to identical danger fears voiced by the judge shortly after the Gyanvapi verdict.
Judge Diwakar, who was recently assigned to Bareilly, had taken a suo motu stand in the 2018 Bareilly riot case, calling for the trial of prominent preacher Tauqeer Raza, who was allegedly the mastermind.

This week, the judge wrote in a letter to the SSP, he started getting unsolicited calls from foreign numbers, “which is deeply concerning.” He added that he spoke with Bareilly SSP Sushil Chandrabhan Ghule about his concerns. There are now two guards on the judge’s security detail. According to one of his acquaintances, the protection is insufficient since the two guards lack the armaments necessary to fight terrorists who are armed with both automatic rifles and contemporary weaponry.

Last year in Lucknow, a Popular Front of India (PFI) operative was taken into custody close to the judge’s home. A gunner was then stationed at the home of Justice Diwakar’s brother, an additional district judge, by Shahjahanpur SSP Ashok Kumar Meena. However, because of the Lok Sabha elections, the security cover was lifted.