Security Beefed up Around Dhoni After Threat

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 7:28 pm under Sports News

RANCHI: Police have beefed up security around India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni after he has received extortion letters.

Police said on Wednesday they had sent more than 45 commandos to Dhoni’s house in his hometown of Ranchi, the capital of the eastern state of Jharkhand.

The first letter, sent on Monday, threatened Dhoni’s family with dire consequences if the player failed to pay 5 million rupees ($102,000), police said.

A second letter on Wednesday threatened to blow up the captain’s family home if police were asked for help.

Dhoni arrived in Ranchi on Tuesday and met a local police official on Wednesday to discuss the threat.

“The letter sent by the claimed to be a close associate of Dawood Ibrahim, but the letter has been sent from Ranchi, ” a police spokesman said.