A human rights defender, Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi has been subjected to renewed death threats, received on his mobile phone on 22 and 23 July 2009. Dr Raghuvanshi is the convener of the People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) and also a member of the District Vigilance Committee on Bonded Labour in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India.

Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi's human rights work focuses on hunger and death due to starvation. Front Line has previously expressed its concern regarding threats against Dr Lenin and the staff of the PVCHR, received between April and May 2008, calling for them to cease their human rights work, as well as the death threats received in December 2007 and the complaint filed against him by Rajendar Thripathi, on 9 December 2007.

On 22 July 2009 at 9:05 pm Dr Lenin received a missed call on his mobile telephone from phone number +91 98705993. At 9.06 p.m. another call came from the same number and when Dr Lenin picked up the caller verbally abused him and threatened his life. At 9:30 pm Dr Lenin called the number back to try to identify the caller, however the person who picked up responded in Bihari and protested that he did not understand him. Dr Lenin believes that the caller's accent was actually from Western Uttar Pradesh or from the Bundelkhand region.

On 23 July 2009, at 11:07 pm Dr Lenin received a second threat from number +91 9695284472. This time the caller abused him and threatened to kill him and to kidnap his son. At 11:29 pm Dr Lenin called the number back, inquiring who the caller was but the person on the line responded that “someone had borrowed my cell phone”. However Dr Lenin believes that from the person's voice it was the same man who made the threat.

At the same time as Dr. Lenin was receiving the threats, his wife Shruti called the police for help on the police 100 emergency number. The policeman on duty advised her to complain to the Inspector General of Police (IG), Varanasi zone. On 23 and 24 July Dr Lenin registered a complaint addressed to the Director General of Police, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh and Inspector General of Police, Varanasi zone, informing about the call that he received and urging to take necessary action upon the complaint.

Front Line is concerned that the renewed threats against Dr Lenin are directly connected to his work in defense of the Dalit communities in the Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh. Front Line is worried for the physical and psychological integrity of Dr Lenin.