Kochi: Kerala Crime Branch chief Tomin Thachankary interrogated extradited gangster Ravi Pujari in Bengaluru on Sunday over a 2018 firing at a beauty parlour here. The Bengaluru Police had given nod to the Crime Branch to question him.
The don is the first accused in the shooting case. Just days after the attack, Pujari had called up a local TV station to claim responsibility for the attack.
During the questioning, it was revealed that intimidation was the motive behind the firing by two hitmen. Word had spread in the underworld that actor Leena Maria Paul, who owns the beauty parlour, had amassed huge sums of black money from hawala deals centred around Kochi. She was also an accused in a financial fraud case wherein she allegedly siphoned off Rs 19 crore from Canara Bank in Chennai.
When Ravi's initial blackmail attempts were resisted, his associates hired two Ernakulam natives – Bilal and Vipin – for the attack.
On December 15, 2018, the bike-borne assailants shot at Leena's salon with air pistols. Though there were some employees and customers inside, none were hurt. The duo fled the scene but was caught by the Crime Branch. It was reported that the two have close ties with a criminal gang from Perumbavoor, about 35 km from Kochi.
Pujari, a history-sheeter wanted in many heinous crimes in India, including murder and extortion, was nabbed from Africa recently in a joint operation by the South African Police and Senegal security agencies and brought to his home country a few days ago. He is under the custody of Bengaluru Police now as he and his gangsters are wanted for several extortion cases including the 2007 killing of two employees at Shabnam Developers for resisting a bid to extort money.
An associate of gangster Chhota Rajan and fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Pujari had been on the run for over 15 years.
The National Investigation Agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Research and Analysis Wing too would join the investigation, the sources said.
