Rowdy sheeter and Sri Rama Sene Founder-President Prasad Attavar, accused of collecting Rs 17.50 lakh from a Mangalore University Professor after promising to make him the next Vice Chancellor of Raichur University, was arrested by Kankanady Town Police on Monday.
The professor was acquainted with Attavar through one Vivek Acharya, DCP (Law and order) Hariram Shankar revealed.
Attavar (40) had promised a professor of Mangalore University to facilitate his appointment as the next Vice Chancellor of Raichur University. He had made the victim believe that he had contacts with state BJP leadership including Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and could get anything done with help of his contacts. He had even shared his photographs with BJP leaders at the state and national level.
Attavar initially had demanded Rs 30 lakh from the professor. Later, he forcefully took Rs 17.5 lakh along with three blank cheque leaves.
When the professor realised that he was cheated, he confronted Attavar and asked him to return the money. But Attavar had issued life threats to him and also abused him, the victim revealed in his complaint submitted to Kankanady Town Police Station.
The police have filed a case under sections 406, 417, 420, 506, and 34 of the IPC.
Attavar in the past had identified with fringe Hindu vigilantes and was prime accused in the Amnesia pub attack case in Mangaluru in 2009. He had served as district president of the Sri Rama Sene. Attavar, a resident of Kudupu on the city's outskirts, had even joined BJP in 2016.
There are many cases against him in Mangaluru North and Mangaluru East Police Stations. In fact, the police had even opened a rowdy register against him in Mangaluru North and Kankanady Town Police Station, sources added.
Published 29 March 2021, 13:07 IST