COIMBATORE: The Indian police on Monday has averted a assassination plotof Indian PM Narendra Modi.

Police arrested Mohammad Rafique — a convict in the 1998 Coimnatore bombblast — in the wake of the emergence of a recorded audio of his telephonicconversation with a truck contractor in which he is allegedly heard sayinghe is planning to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Times of India hasreported.

The alleged recorded telephonic conversation between Rafiq, a resident ofKunniyamuthur who has completed his jail term in connection with the 1998bomb blast case, and Salem-based truck contractor Prakash was shared widelyon social media sites.

In the eight-minute-long telephonic conversation, Rafiq is heard saying,“We have decided to kill Prime Minister Modi. We were the ones who plantedbombs during (BJPleader) L K Advani’s visit to Coimbatore in 1998.”

Claiming that he had been to almost all prisons in Tamil Nadu, Rafiq isallegedly heard saying that he had been booked under the Goondas Act,Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) and theNational Security Act.

The police, who came to know about the audio on Saturday, formed a specialteam to conduct an inquiry. “Investigations are going on,” said city policecommissioner K Periaiah.