Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party supremo, cannot keep the pehalwan in him in check for long. The jostle this time is with Amitabh Thakur, an IPS officer who (with his lawyer wife Nutan) has been time and again tripping up the state government. Thakur, currently an inspector-general for civil defence, has released what he says is an audio clip of Mulayam threatening him over the phone. It looks like a long scuffle ahead—for the Thakurs have a record of tenacity. As serial litigants and RTI activists, they have often raised interesting and notable issues, but have also been warned on occasion by the courts on their pils. Recently, Amitabh had at his own initiative videographed the dying declaration of journalist Jagendra Singh of Shahjahanpur, who died of burns after allegedly being set ablaze by policemen.