Mumbai Underworld headed for a Mangalorean takeover?

March 22, 2011

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Mumbai, March 22: The Mangalorean mafia seems headed towards a partial takeover of the Mumbai underworld.

After Ravi Pujari killed two engineers at an Andheri construction site to send a chilling message to a builder on March 14, it was his bete noire Hemant Pujari's turn to strike with the murder of a businessman in Goregaon on Saturday.

Hemant Pujari hired shooter Mukesh Sharma alias Shabbir alias Nurul Islam Suleiman from Uttar Pradesh to gun down Angara Pujari, a Monginis frachisee.

Angara was shot through the neck at noon near Goregaon railway station, confirmed Additional Commissioner of Police (north region) Ramarao Pawar.

"We are trying to confirm the role of two women accomplices and whether this faction was involved in earlier crimes," he said.

A local accomplice was picked up by the police last evening but investigators refused to divulge his name saying it would hamper further investigations.

Initial investigations have indicated that Angara had been receiving threats from members of the Hemant Pujari gang, or HP gang as they are known in the underworld, for a long time. A complaint had also been lodged in this connection in 2008.

Police say Hemant and Ravi Pujari, both Mangalorean gangsters, are trying to gain a firm foothold in the western suburbs. They are outsourcing the shootouts to avoid suspicion.

"Hemant Pujari had almost been hibernating for the past few months. The timing of the businessman's murder points to him feeling threatened by his former associates and fellow Mangaloreans Ravi Pujari and Santosh Shetty stepping up their activities in Mumbai," said an underworld source.

The trio had broken away from mentor Chhota Rajan around 2001. Shetty made a name for himself in the underworld with the killing of gangster Bharat Nepali in Bangkok.

Underworld insiders say that, with the latest murder, the Pujaris and Shetty seem set to corner the income from the builder community in the western suburbs.

Ravi Pujari lived near the Sahar airport and was educated there before getting involved in underworld operations. His mentor, Sri Mama, inducted him into the Chhota Rajan gang in 1995 and he formed a deadly combination with Rajan's key lieutenant Guru Satam before breaking away from the gang. Ravi Pujari was not taken seriously until the recent killing at Andheri.

Hemant Pujari was working as a waiter in Ghatkopar before joining hands with Chhota Rajan after a killing at Kherwadi, where he lived and grew up. He was part of Rajan's core team and broke away from him around 2002 to work on his own. He holds sway over Bandra (East) and between Goregaon and Vasai.

Santosh Shetty alias Madan Sharma was part of the Chhota Rajan gang between 1993 and 2002. He operates from countries such as Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia and was masterminding drug deals before switching over to running extortion syndicates in Mumbai.

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News Network
January 5,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 5: Former Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara has said the Karnataka Congress has unanimously decided to appeal to the party high command regarding the appointment of KPCC President and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the state.

Speaking to reporters, the Congress leader said, "We have decided to gather the opinion of senior leaders regarding the selection of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and opposition leaders. We will appeal to the high command regarding the same. The party will decide its next course of action."

He made these remarks after a meeting of senior party leaders was held at Parameshwara's residence here on Saturday.

Adding that the Congress leaders discussed the current political scenario in the state, Parameshwara said: "We held a meeting to reiterate that we are not confused and we all are together."

"There has been no personal discussion on who should be the president," he said.

Earlier, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had tendered resignation from their respective posts owning moral responsibility for the party's poor performance in the recent by-polls.

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News Network
July 4,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 4: A young woman doctor at the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bengaluru, who had raised an alarm about faulty PPE kits and shortage of N95 masks, has tested positive for the covid-19.

Taking note of this, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha brought the issue to the attention on Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Twitter. Tagging the minister, the MP tweeted, “For your information and I feel, it is a genuine concern.” “Amulya Gowda treated Covid patients at KIMS.

Karnataka Medical Association took to social media to express concern over the development. In a Facebook post it wrote: "Amulya C Gowda is a frontline worker who risks her life every single day. Last week she raised an alarm about faulty PPE kits and shortage of N-95 masks. But the Administrative Medical Officer (AMO) at KIMS, shunned and chastised her for raising this issue. Ever since, she has been buying her own N-95 masks. Today, she tested positive for Covid-19 and appealed to the Hospital authorities and raised her genuine concerns over the faulty protective gear, but she was again harassed and humiliated for raising the issue."

Dr DH Ashwath Narayana, Medical Superintendent, KIMS Hospital, said that all PPE kits at KIMS were certified by SITRA (South India Textiles Research Association), Coimbatore and that they had purchased N-95 masks available in the market. "One cannot claim faulty PPEs are the reason for testing positive. We have purchased whatever PPE kits are available in the market. Healthcare workers across hospitals, private and government, and policemen are also getting infected."

As the new rules by the state government allow healthcare workers home isolation, Narayana said the doctor is recuperating at home and that she is doing fine.

Medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar tweeted, "Doctors are our frontline warriors battling the pandemic. Government has taken all necessary measures to ensure safety of our doctors. I have taken note of supply of defective masks and PPE kits to KIMS doctors and ordered an enquiry. Management will be held responsible if found guilty."

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News Network
June 15,2020

Mangaluru, Jun 15: The case of two elderly Dubai returnees who are being treated for Covid-19 at the Wenlock Covid-19 Hospital has left doctors perplexed.

The two aged 76 and 81 men had arrived from Dubai on May 18 and 12 respectively and are at the hospital since one month. 

To everyone's surprise, six of their tests have come out positive though they have not shown any symptoms of SARS-CoV-2.

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