Unable to get Cong ticket after 5 defeats, 82-yr-old Poojary blesses BJP’s Kateel

Bengaluru, Feb 24: Fugitive underworld don Ravi Poojary, with more than 90 criminal charges pending against him, was brought to the city in the wee hours of Monday after he was arrested from Senegal in South Africa.

Police said that he was wanted in more than 92 criminal cases. In Bengaluru alone, he was involved in more than 39 cases, including double murder of Ravi and Shobana in 2007, an attempt to murder attack on Mantri developers 2009, extortion and other crimes etc. He had committed crimes in various parts of the state including Myusuru, Hubballi, he had involved in extortion, threatening builders, politicians, etc.

"Though Senegal police had nabbed him about six months back to get him to India it took more than six months since there was no agreement to deport criminals from that state to us. However, now all legal hurdles have been removed and we have succeeded in bringing him", a top police official told media.

A team of Bengaluru Police headed by Additional Director General of Police Amar Kumar Pandey, Joint Police Commissioner Sandeep Patil reached Senegal on Saturday and brought him to the city by Air France flight.

Ravi Poojari was wanted in cases of extortion and murder and was active in the Mumbai underworld. He was part of the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's gang and later is said to have worked with 'Chota Rajan' for some time. Claiming to be an enemy of Dawood, Poojari reportedly finished off all his associates and anti-India elements in the country. His men were involved in a shootout on the Shabanam Developers office in Bengaluru in which a woman staffer was killed.

He is also said have been involved in the shootout case of Shahid Azmi, an advocate from Mumbai. There are cases against him in Kerala, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.

Bengaluru, Jul 16: Rattled by the spurt in Covid-19 positive cases, a Karnataka minister on Wednesday said only god would save the people from coronavirus pandemic.

"Only god has to save us from the virus or the people should be made aware of the infection so that they wear mask and maintain social distancing," state Health Minister B Sriramulu told reporters in Chitradurga, 205-km northwest of Bengaluru.

Noting that the infection does not differentiate between rich and poor, police, doctors, politicians or legislators, Sriramulu said the communicable disease could rise to alarming level in the ensuing two months, as the cases were rising daily the world over.

"Who can control coronavirus? In the present situation, only god has to save us. Otherwise, the people should become aware of its (virus) consequences. If we have made mistakes, we are ready to face punishment for them," said Sriramulu, who is the ruling BJP's legislator from the Molakalmuru reserved assembly segment in the district.

Refuting the opposition Congress charge that the cases were rising in the state due to negligence by ministers, officials and legislators, Sriramulu said Karnataka was performing better than other states till the cases began to steadily rise since unlock started and the people were moving in violation of the guidelines.

A record 3,176 cases were reported from across the southern state during the day, taking the Covid tally to a whopping 47,253, including 27,853 active cases after 18,466 were discharged, with 1,076 during the day, while 928 succumbed to the virus, with 87 in the last 24 hours.

In Bengaluru, which is under 9-day lockdown since Tuesday night till July 22 morning, 1,975 positive cases were registered, taking its tally to 22,944, including 17,051 active after 5,455 were discharged so far, with 463 during the day, while 437 died of the infection, with 60 in the last 24 hours.

Udupi, Jan 25: Mangalore International Airport (MIA) culprit Aditya Rao has revealed that after placing the explosive device he went to Malpe and made threat call of placing bomb in the Indigo flight.

Rao, who is in police custody, on Saturday, was brought to Malpe under tight security by the investigating officer ACP Belliyappa for spot investigation. On January 20, Aditya had come to the Mangaluru airport and planted an explosive device before going to Malpe and made a threat call about placing a bomb in the Indigo flight. He was just a couple of kilometers away from the Malpe police station while making the call.

Sitting outside an egg selling shop which opens only after 6:00 pm, Aditya had called the Airport and informed that a bomb was placed in the Indigo flight. Later he destroyed the sim card and left to Bengaluru to surrender.