Kochi: A police team investigating the gun attack on a beauty salon in the heart of the city on Saturday evening has summoned its owner actress Leena Maria Paul from Hyderabad. Leena will be put through a detailed interrogation after she arrives in Kochi. She could be holding vital clues about the attack, the police team believes.
Two men fired with low-power guns on the 'Nail Artistry' salon at Kadavanthara on Saturday and fled after leaving behind a message with the name of Ravi Poojari, an underworld don based in Mumbai. Inquiries focusing on regular criminals in the city have not yielded any accurate information that could lead to the assailants.
The police are seeking clues on the several messages of threat that Leena had received under the name of Ravi Poojari. The senders raised a demand for Rs 25 crore. One of the early conclusions of the police team is that the firing was a warning to Leena as she had chosen to ignore the threats.
However, the police are also gathering information on people who had financial dealings with the actress and those who had any dispute with her recently.
The police assumption as of now is that the attack followed a contract (quotation in local parlance) taken by hirelings and the assailants were hired by someone who has enmity towards Leena. This prompted checks on the city's regular criminals.
At the same time, investigators are also collecting information on the underworld links of Leena, who has been accused in several criminal cases including financial fraud. The police have questioned some people who are close to her.
Earlier cases
Leena was arrested in May 2013 for defrauding Canara Bank's Ambattur branch in Chennai of Rs 19 crore. In another case she was arrested for a Rs 62.47 lakh fraud on a textile dealer. Her friend Sukesh Chandrasekhar was a co-accused in both cases.
Both were arrested in another case that drew national attention. He was accused of an attempted hawala transaction of Rs 50 crore which was to be handed over to Election Commission of India officials as a bribe. Allegedly, the bribe was promised by Anna DMK rebel leader T T V Dhinakaran who wanted the party's 'Two Leaves' symbol for his faction. It was alleged then that Sukesh had smuggled out Rs 10 crore via Kochi.
Dhinakaran is the nephew of VK Sasikala, a close aide of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa.
Sukesh had carried out his activities under an assumed name – Sekhar Reddy. In 2010, the police had chased him and Leena in vain over financial fraud cases in Bengaluru for which he had posed as an IAS officer.
Leena met Sukesh when she was a student of a dental college in Karnataka's Hunasamaranahalli. She had later told her friends that they parted ways.
Sukesh is serving jail terms in various cases, but his hawala racket is still active in Kochi. The police are looking for their role in the attack.
The police have also recorded statements from people working at a dental clinic near the salon where the attack took place.
Leena made her debut in the Shaji Kailas-directed 'Red Chillies.' Her other films include 'Husbands in Goa' directed by Saji Surendran and 'Cobra' of actor-director Lal. She was also a television presenter and serial actress.
Leena also did a role in John Abraham's 2013 political thriller 'Madras Cafe.'
Read more: Latest Kerala news
