33-yr-old who worked for construction firm had passed on boss's phone number for Rs 20,000

Don Ravi Pujari's local contact held

33-yr-old who worked for construction firm had passed on boss's phone number for Rs 20,000

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) officials have arrested M Rajan, an employee with a construction company, on the charges of being an informer to underworld don Ravi Pujari.u00a0It may be recalled that Somashekhar (owner, Som Builders), Rajan's employer, had filed a complaint against Pujari, for making threat calls in August.
Investigations have revealed that it was Rajan who had supplied his employer's number to a Pujari aide, for
Rs 20,000. Rajan has been sent to judicial custody for further investigations.

In April last year, he was arrested by the Subramanyapura police, and sent to Bellary jail for killing two persons. There, he came in contact with Deepak and Prashant Shetty, both Pujari aides. They introduced him to Pujari, who in turn, asked him to help in getting phone numbers of city businessmen, to which he agreed.
Once out on bail, Shivakumar contacted Rajan, and asked him to help. He complied, and provided Shivakumar with numbers of some influential people, in exchange of money.

At the same time, Rajan knew about his employer's conflict with another businessman in the city. So he gave Somashekhar's number to Shivakumar, and asked him to call as early as possible.

Following this, Pujari called Somashekhar on August 10, and asked for a large sum. But Somashekhar informed the Agoudi police, who initially dismissed it as mischief mongers. But the police did take it seriously, when Chandu, another Pujari associate fired at the offices of Mantri Constructions September 25. Chandu was killed in a police encounter a few hours later (Handle without care, September 27).

Subsequently, a special team was formed to catch the culprits. Investigations led the team to Shivakumar, who told the police about Rajan. In the process, the police also caught Govindaraju, who had helped Rajan to get phone numbers.

SY Hadimani, ACP, CCB said, "We have taken three persons into custody, and are investigating. Preliminary investigations show that Shivakumar is a major Pujari asset."

Eyeing Builders?

Earlier this month, six associates of Ravi Pujari have been arrested in connection with an extortion case. Besides, a henchman of Pujari gang was shot dead in anu00a0 police encounter when he was fleeing after he fired at a prominent builder's office in a residential complex here.

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