Nagpur: The statements of six persons who were contacted by the man accused of making extortion calls to the office of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur in Maharashtra a couple of weeks ago have been recorded as part of the probe, a police official said on Sunday.
Jayesh Pujari, a murder convict lodged in a jail in Belagavi in Karnataka, was held for allegedly making three calls to the public relations office of Gadkari in Khamla here on January 14 and demanding Rs 100 crore. He had denied making the calls.
"Six persons were identified on the basis of the call detail record of the phone allegedly used by Pujari from jail. Before and after contacting Gadkari's office, the accused had spoken to these persons. Their statements were recorded under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure," he said.
Earlier, the caller who made threatening calls to the Nagpur office of Union minister Nitin Gadkari and demanded Rs 100 crore is an inmate of a jail in Belagavi city of Karnataka who was sentenced to death by a court in a murder case in the past, police said. The caller, who had claimed he was a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, has been identified as Jayesh Pujari. Prime facie, he made the call using a mobile phone from the jail, a senior officer said.
A crime branch team of Nagpur Police led by an assistant inspector reached Belagavi late Saturday night. The team is likely to request the jail administration to allow them to question Pujari on Monday, he said.
At least three threat calls were received on the landline number of Gadkari's Public Relations office in Khamla area in Nagpur between 11.25 am to 12.30 pm on Saturday, following which security was strengthened at the home and office of the Nagpur MP who belongs to the BJP. "Pujari was sentenced to death by a court in a murder case. He is a dreaded goon who managed to escape from jail in 2016. Later, he was arrested by the Karnataka police," the police officer said. (With Agency Imputs)
