Mangaluru: CET topper Ananth says, he avoided mobile phone for 2 years

Bengaluru, Feb 29: Dreaded underworld don Ravi Poojary's lawyer Dilraj has allegedly been kept out of hearing distance and as a mute spectator during interrogation by the police.

"The lawyer is a mute spectator out of hearing distance from the interrogation. He is not privy to what police ask Pujari," a source told media.

As directed by the court and requested by Poojary, Dilraj is allowed to be present near the interrogation for him to consult on legal issues, but the cops have made sure that he does not hear anything for fear of leaking information.

The court has also ordered the interrogation to be video graphed, which the police are carrying out.

Police sources said that Ravi Poojary is relaxed and cool during the multi-lingual interrogation.

"He is cool, giving frank replies. Poojary is exhibiting confidence in whatever he is telling. Maybe confidently lying, police are not new to him," said the source.

According to source, the gangster knows how to handle police, with sufficient knowledge to reveal how much he wants to, when to stop, when to talk, when to mislead and plant false information.

"Poojary is being interrogated in his mother tongue Kannada, Hindi and English. He is fluent in English," the source said.

However, the source denied speculation gaining currency that Poojary requested police not to send him to Mumbai fearing of being eliminated by the henchmen of dreaded underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Rajan.

"Nothing of that sort happened. It doesn't work like that. He has been captured after 25 years, and he is not a king to choose. Wherever the law takes him, he will go there," said the source.

Rajan is serving a life sentence inside a high security cell in Delhi's Tihar jail.

Currently, the probe is focused on Tilknagar Shabnam Developers double murder shootout case. Police are discovering information, verifying it with respect to evidence and building the case.

Taking regular breaks, police are interrogating Poojary from morning till evening.

Of the over 200 cases against Poojary in the southern state, 39 are in Bengaluru, 36 at Mangaluru, 11 in Udupi on the state's west coast and one each at Mysuru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Kolar and Shivamogga in Malnad.

The other cases are in Mumbai (49) and in Gujarat (75) pertaining to extortion, kidnapping, ransom demand and murder threats.

Poojary also extorted huge amounts from popular Bollywood stars and realtors. He was also involved in an attempt to murder case, aimed at killing a prominent lawyer of Mumbai.

A four-member Karnataka police team led by Pandey brought the 52-year-old underworld don to Bengaluru from Dakar in Senegal via Paris in an Air France scheduled flight during the wee hours and kept him at an interrogation centre in the city's south-east suburb.

Bantwal, Feb 7: A 31-year-old man has been arrested on charge of sexual assault on a minor boy at Kanyana under the limits of Vittla police station in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada.

The police have identified accused as Suresh Prabhu, a resident of Kanyana village. He is said to be an activist of a saffron outfit.

The alleged sexual assault took place on February 1, when the victim, a schoolboy, was on his way home from the school. 

According to police, Prabhu called the boy saying he wanted to tell a secret. He then took him to the school toilet and sexually assaulted him there. 

After returning home, the boy narrated the incident to his mother, who approached the jurisdictional Vittla police station and lodged a complaint. 

After taking the minor boy’s statement, the police registered a case under section 341, 377, 506 IPC and POCSO Act against Prabhu. He was arrested on February 5.

Bengaluru, Jul 8: 15 police personnel from Bangalore's Whitefield division tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.

Out of these, 12 are from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) police station, sources said.

A total of 27 police staff of the Whitefield division have tested positive so far and five have been discharged. The HAL police station closed on June 27 after one police staff tested COVID positive. All personnel of the police station were tested in the following days and 12 tests returned positive.