Seized guns not mine, says 'Agni' Sridhar

Gangster-turned-social activist ‘Agni’ Sridhar has claimed that the firearms seized by police from his house last week were licensed. Besides, the bottles of foreign liquor brands found in the showcase of his living room were gifted by a friend, he said.

Speaking to journalists here on Sunday after a court granted him 15-day interim bail, Sridhar said the firearms belonged to a security agency which he had hired for his personal safety. “The guards didn’t have the licence documents when police searched my house on February 6. The agency’s supervisor is out of town. The licence will be submitted to police when he returns,” he said.

Sridhar said he gave up alcohol years ago. “The bottles were gifted by a friend. My associate Bachchan liked them so much he put them in the showcase,” he said.

Sridhar denied the charge that he had sheltered history-sheeters ‘Onte’ Rohith and ‘Silent’ Sunil who were accused of giving death threats to Congress worker and businessman, ‘Tata’ Ramesh. He took pains to dispel the suggestion that Rohith and Sunil were involved in the February 2 attack on Dasanapura APMC president, Kadabagere Srinivas. “Rohith and Sunil may have threatened Ramesh but they certainly didn’t try to kill Srinivas,” he said.

Sridhar suggested that a section of the media had “misreported” the house search. “Some sections in the media are trying to defame me. They called me a fake progressive thinker, which really hurt me. I am going to sue them for Rs 1 crore,” he said.

Sridhar also claimed that police didn’t slap him during the raid. “I was meditating when I heard commotion on the ground floor of my residence and came down. Additional Commissioner of Police (East) Hemant Nimbalkar, DCPs S D Sharanappa and P S Harsha and Narayan were there but I hardly knew them. A policeman hit my guard and I stared at him. An inspector got offended and took me by the scruff of the neck. The officers felt bad about the inspector’s conduct,” he said.