Kanaka Nade': Action sought against Pejawar seer, Chakravarti Sulibele

Mangaluru, Feb 25: Notorious gangster Ravi Poojary,

who has been extradited to India from Senegal, has 34 cases registered against him within the city police commissionerate.

Now in Bengaluru police custody for interrogation in connection with several cases there, Poojary faces cases relating to murder, murder attempt, extortion and threat calls in the city, police sources said.

Sources said the city police are trying to get Pujari for interrogation though it would take a while as the court has allowed Bengaluru police to keep him in custody for questioning and evidence taking for 15 days.

Most of the cases in the city against him, 28 of them, are in connection with threat calls.

He had allegedly made threat calls in 2015 to the then state ministers B Ramanath Rai and Abhayachandra Jain, demanding immediate arrest of the accused in the murder of Bajrang Dal worker Prashanth Poojary.

All the cases against Poojary in the city were registered between 2007 and 2018.

Cases involving murder, death threats and shootouts are among the cases to be investigated, the sources said.

A total of 28 cases of death threat calls, one of murder, three of shootouts, one of abduction and a case of funding his associates lodged in prison are the crimes being probed by the city police.

The cases are now pending in courts at different stages of trial.

Cases of making threat calls to businessmen using his associates demanding protection money have been registered at Moodbidri, Kavoor, Kadri, Konaje, Barke and Urwa police stations.

Some of his associates were imprisoned in 2012 in connection with threat calls to a businessman from Kinnigoli.

The case relating to providing them money while in prison was also registered in the same year.

Pujari, wanted in many cases including extortion and murder in different parts of the country, including Karnataka and who had been on the run for over 15 years, was deported to Senegal following his arrest and later extradited

He had jumped bail in Senegal last year after being arrested there.

Bengaluru, Jan 12: Janata Dal (Secular) chief and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on Sunday refuted reports of him contesting in the Rajya Sabha elections and added that he is more concerned about strengthening his party in Karnataka.

"I am not interested in going to Rajya Sabha. My concern is to build and strengthen the party in the region to the best of my ability. I had declared earlier that I will not contest elections anymore," Deve Gowda told ANI here.

"My party MP D Kupendra Reddy is there in the Rajya Sabha as of now and further decisions will be taken by the party. In March 2019, towards the end of the 16th Lok Sabha I had declared that I will not contest any more elections," Deve Gowda added.

Four Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka are about to fall vacant in June this year as two of Congress, one of BJP and JD(S) MPs retire.

Bengaluru, Feb 17: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday assured that the Centre is committed to stand by its promise of providing Rs 18,600 crore Bengaluru suburban Rail project.

Addressing a press conference after a post-budget interactive session with the representatives of the various trade bodies, industry leaders and others here, she said that the union cabinet has already given its clearance for the long-pending project.

Informing that the central government will have 20 per cent of its capital share in the project followed by another 20 per cent share from the state government, she said "beside this, the union government will stand for a sovereign guarantee for the rest of the 60 percent share, which can be raised through loans from external agencies".