French Consulate in Bengaluru gets warning letter against Francois Hollande's visit

BENGALURU: The French Consulate in Bengaluru received a threat letter ahead of French President Francois Hollande's visit to India. The letter said he should not come to India.

Additional CP (West) KSR Charan Reddy told ET that the Consulate General's office in Vasanth Nagar had received the letter as far back as January 11, following which a complaint was lodged in the High Ground Police Station on January 14. Security at the Consulate was tightened, he said.

The French Embassy in New Delhi issued a statement that read: “It is not the first time that a French representation abroad has received this kind of letter.The Consulate has informed the Indian police of this letter, whose authenticity is yet to be established.“

Charan Reddy pointed out that the letter arrived from a Chennai address that turned out to be fake. The three-line message was written on a single page and in incoherent English. It said that president Hollande, who is a guest at the Republic Day parade in the capital, should not come to India. It was signed alQaeda, he said.