Thiruvananthapuram: Extradited gangster Ravi Pujari has reportedly confessed to have ordered the late 2018 firing at a Kochi beauty parlour even as he made a startling disclosure about links with a few police personnel in Kerala.
During an interrogation led by Kerala Crime Branch chief Tomin Thachankary in Bengaluru recently, Ravi Pujari spoke about his role in deploying a gang to carry out the shooting, police sources stated.
Attempts were made to threaten actress Leena Maria Paul, who owns the beauty parlour, over the phone and extort money. When that did not yield any results, the firing was allegedly carried out on December 15, 2018 as a warning to her, Pujari reportedly told the interrogators.
Leena herself is an accused in financial fraud cases. She allegedly siphoned off Rs 19 crore from Canara Bank in Chennai. The CBI had held checks at her beauty parlour in Kadavanthra over these. She was also under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the hawala dealings based out of Kochi. It was around this time, Pujari threatened her. The firing happened before the Enforcement Directorate conducted checks at the parlour.
When Pujari's initial blackmail attempts were resisted, his associates hired two Ernakulam natives – Bilal and Vipin – for the attack.
The bike-borne shooters 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 were 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.
The don is the first accused in the shooting case. Just days after the attack, Pujari had even called up a local TV station to claim responsibility for the attack.
An associate of gangster Chhota Rajan and fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Pujari had been on the run for over 15 years.
An accused in several cases across India, Pujari was recently arrested from Africa by various international police agencies and brought to his home country last week.
The gangster, who is currently under the custody of Karnataka cops, is being questioned in Bengaluru over charges of extorting money from businessmen.
His unofficial interrogation by the Kerala Police was done with the permission of the Bengaluru Police and in the latter's presence.
Kerala Police will seek Pujari's custody for further questioning.
Deals with Kerala cops?
However, when Pujari was questioned on the Kochi salon shooting, he made some revelations on financial dealings with certain police officers in Kerala. This information was unrelated to the salon shooting. He was then further questioned on his claimed acquaintance with the cops. But highly-placed police sources who made the disclosure did not divulge more details.
Based on Pujari's revelations, the government has reportedly initiated a high-level investigation. Investigation would be carried out in certain murder cases again.
If the revelations made by Pujari were proved to be true, some Kerala police officers would have to face legal action.
