Belagavi (Karnataka): The accused, who threatened Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, and demanded Rs 100 crore on Saturday turned out to be an inmate of Karnataka's Belagavi Hindalga Jail. The police seized a diary from the accused, identified as Jayesh Pujari and the police also started a probe into it.
"Police identified the caller, who was lodged in a jail in Belagavi in a murder case. A crime branch team has been sent there for further investigation. The suspected accused is being interrogated with the permission of the jail authorities, while Nagpur police are also probing the incident," Commissioner Amitesh Kumar informed. Pujari, who claims to be a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, was booked under murder charges and was sentenced to death in August 2016, but in 2017, his death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment.
Pujari, a native of Shiradi, Kadaba taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, was shifted to the Mysore Jail in May 2019 after he made a life-threatening call to the then North Zone IGP Alok Kumar and was shifted back to Belagavi Hindalga Jail. On Saturday, security was beefed up at Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's residence and office in Maharashtra after Pujari made threatening calls and demanded Rs 100 crore, police said.
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Three threatening calls received on the landline number of Gadkari's Public Relations Office in the Khamla area between 11.25 am and 12.30 pm, following which security was strengthened at the home and office of Gadkari. "The caller told the phone operator that he is a member of the D gang and demanded Rs 100 crore from Gadkari. He threatened to harm the Minister with a bomb if his demand is not met." "The caller also shared his mobile number and the address in Karnataka where he said the money must be sent. Prima facie, the jail inmate has access to a mobile phone, which he used to make threatening calls," police said.
