Nagpur: NIA to probe Nitin Gadkari office threatening call case

The Nagpur Police arrested Jayesh Pujari alias Kanta, who is the main accused in the Nitin Gadkari threat call case. The accused had also threatened to kill the office staff if the ransom was not paid, the sources said. Now, the NIA is expected to take up an investigation soon.

Nagpur (Maharashtra) : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will investigate the case of extortion threat to the public relations office of Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur twice in two months, sources said. In this case, Nagpur Police have arrested Jayesh Pujari alias Kanta, who is serving a sentence in Belgaum Jail of Karnataka.

According to the police, the accused Jayesh Pujari called Nitin Gadkari's public relations office first in January and the second time in March demanding Rs 10 crore. They also threatened to kill him if the ransom was not paid. This time Jayesh Pujari called from Belgaon Jail. After that, the Nagpur Police arrested Jayesh Pujari from Belgaum Jail on March 28 and brought him to Nagpur.

During the investigation, it was revealed that Jayesh Pujari was associated with a terrorist and a big gangster. Subsequently, the Nagpur Police registered a case against Jayesh Pujari under UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) and reported the entire case to the Union Home Department. After that, the Union Home Ministry agreed to hand over the responsibility of investigating the case to the NIA. A team of NIA will come to Nagpur and take up the investigation of this case soon.

Who is Jayesh Kantha alias Pujari?

A case was registered at Bajaj Nagar Police Station in Nagpur city for threatening to kill Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. The notorious gangster named Jayesh Kantha was found involved in this case and he was imprisoned in Belgaum Jail. He has been sentenced to death for murder in 2016.

Jayesh Kantha is also an accused in a case of escape from jail and has an old record of extortion. The first time he made a threatening phone call to Nitin Gadkari for extortion demands, when Nagpur police interrogated him, a diary was found in his possession containing the numbers of many VIPs.