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D Jose in Trivandrum
Tehelka.com special correspondent Mathew Samuel, who was part of the investigating team that did the expose on the defence deals, has been provided police protection at his residence at Edathara near Pathanampuram in Kollam district following intelligence reports about a threat to his life.
Samuel is guarded by four police personnel, including two head constables. However, Kollam's district superintendent of police S Aananthakrishnan clarified to rediff.com that Samuel had not sought protection. "We felt the need to offer protection to him following our perception of the situation."
The threat perception got heightened with the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'Parivartan Yatra' passing through Pathanapuram on Wednesday.
Police personnel at Pathanapuram said they adopted extra precautions when the yatra passed through their area.
Samuel had spoken about the threat to him and his family members when he talked to a select group of newsmen at Trivandrum on Wednesday. He said he had been facing threats from different quarters ever since those involved in the scandal became aware of the sting. "My wife who works in Delhi was recently followed by certain suspicious looking people," Samuel said.
Tehelka.com has promised to release a second set of tapes shortly which shows the involvement of higher-ups in several other deals.
Samuel said what amazed him most was the way he could access the top decision-makers in the country by paying small sums of money. He said most of the purchases in the wake of the Kargil war were murky.
Samuel plans to write a book on the way he went about with the investigation.
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