Mahajan had premonition of attack?

Mumbai: BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan, who was shot at by his younger brother, had told police that if he ever faced danger to his life, it would be from his near ones, police sources said on Tuesday.

Mahajan had from time to time refused police protection offered to him. "Whenever the police insisted on taking along security personnel, he (Mahajan) would reason that whatever harm may occur to him, if ever, will be done by his close ones," the sources said.

"One has to die just once in a life time... an insider only will do harm to me," a senior police official recalled as having told by Mahajan when he was impressed on the need to accept the security cover.

The senior police official said although Mahajan was not in the list of categorised VIPs, he was often provided an escort party. However, Mahajan, who is known for being short-tempered, would ask the security party to leave him alone.

On Friday night, when Mahajan returned from Nagpur, an escort party had accompanied him from the airport to his residence in Worli. But there, Mahajan asked them to go back, the sources said.

Police sources said Mahajan disliked protection and even when his brother-in-law Gopinath Munde was deputy chief minister and Home Minister of Maharashtra, the BJP general secretary never enjoyed security cover.

"The need to accept security has been conveyed to Mahajan in writing several times and also to the Union Government," a senior police official said.