Controversial author Salman Rushdie today cancelled his visit to India for the Jaipur Literature Festival citing threats to his life.

In a statement read out to the press by festival producer Sanjoy K Roy, the Booker Prize winning author stated that he had been told by intelligence sources in Maharashtra and Rajasthan that paid assassins from the Mumbai underworld may be on their way to Jaipur to eliminate him.

The 65-year-old novelist later said on Twitter that he would participate at the event via video link.