Law catching up with Ravi Pujari, CCB gets his custody over lawyer's murder

Law is catching up with Ravi Pujari in yet another case. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has taken the underworld gangster into custody for 10 days to interrogate him about the murder of Naushad Hashimji, a human rights lawyer from Mangaluru.

Hashimji, who was shot by two men in the basement of his apartment in the coastal city on April 9, 2009, had represented several associates of gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Malpe-born Pujari once worked for Ibrahim but parted ways later.

Hashimji was representing Abdul Rashid Hassan (Malabari), believed to be a sharpshooter in the Dawood Ibrahim gang. Days before his murder, the lawyer received death threats from Pujari, who was then hiding abroad.

Bengaluru police brought Pujari to the city in February after he was extradited from Senegal.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by CCB chief Sandeep Patil is probing 97 cases involving Pujari. Forty-seven of these cases are from Bengaluru. Karnataka police chief Praveen Sood transferred the Hashimji murder to the SIT.

On Wednesday, the SIT took Pujari into custody in connection with the Hashimji murder. “We have some evidence about his role in the lawyer’s murder and are questioning him. We hope to arrive at a conclusion in the next 10 days,” a senior police officer said.

A sessions court in Mangaluru had convicted five accused — Dinesh Shetty, Pratap Shetty, Ritesh L, Subramanya and Ganesh — for the murder but the high court acquitted them all in 2018. Since Pujari was absconding, police will name him in an additional charge sheet in the case.

Two weeks ago, police charge-sheeted Pujari in the murder of two employees of Shabnam Developers in Jayanagar and the extortion of Rs 5 crore from a city builder.