Ravi Pujari faces 34 cases in Mangaluru alone
Mangaluru: Notorious gangster Ravi Pujari, who has been extradited to India from Senegal, has 34 cases registered against him within the city police commissionerate.
Now in Bengaluru police custody for interrogation in connection with several cases there, Pujari faces cases relating to murder, murder attempt, extortion and threat calls in the city, police sources said.
Sources said the city police are trying to get Pujari for interrogation though it would take a while as the court has allowed Bengaluru police to keep him in custody for questioning and evidence taking for 15 days.
Most of the cases in the city against him, 28 of them, are in connection with threat calls.
He had allegedly made threat calls in 2015 to the then state ministers B Ramanath Rai and Abhayachandra Jain, demanding immediate arrest of the accused in the murder of Bajrang Dal worker Prashanth Poojary.
All the cases against Pujari in the city were registered between 2007 and 2018.
Cases involving murder, death threats and shootouts are among the cases to be investigated, the sources said.
A total of 28 cases of death threat calls, one of murder, three of shootouts, one of abduction and a case of funding his associates lodged in prison are the crimes being probed by the city police.
The cases are now pending in courts at different stages of trial.
Cases of making threat calls to businessmen using his associates demanding protection money have been registered at Moodbidri, Kavoor, Kadri, Konaje, Barke and Urwa police stations.
Some of his associates were imprisoned in 2012 in connection with threat calls to a businessman from Kinnigoli.
The case relating to providing them money while in prison was also registered in the same year.
Pujari, wanted in many cases including extortion and murder in different parts of the country, including Karnataka and who had been on the run for over 15 years, was deported to Senegal following his arrest and later extradited
He had jumped bail in Senegal last year after being arrested there.
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Gehlot changes profile pic to 'Save Aravalli', asks Centre to reconsider definition
Jaipur (PTI): Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Thursday urged the Centre to reconsider its definition of the Aravallis, warning that any damage to the mountain range posed a serious threat to the ecological future of north India.
Gehlot, a former Rajasthan chief minister, changed his social media profile picture in support of the nationwide 'SaveAravalli' campaign amid growing debate over mining and environmental safeguards in the Aravalli Range.
It was his symbolic protest against the new interpretation under which hills lower than 100 metres are no longer being recognised as part of the Aravalli system, he said.
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"The Aravalli cannot be judged by tape measures or height alone. It must be assessed by its ecological importance," Gehlot said, adding that the revised definition raised "a big question" over the future of north India.
Appealing to the Centre and the Supreme Court, Gehlot said the issue must be reconsidered in the interest of future generations and environmental security. He also urged citizens to participate in the campaign by changing their display pictures online to draw attention to the issue.
He said the Aravalli range functioned as a natural green wall against the expansion of the Thar desert and extreme heatwaves, protecting Delhi, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. Opening up smaller hills and so-called gap areas for mining would allow desertification to advance rapidly, he warned.
Gehlot also flagged concerns over air pollution, saying the hills and forests of the Aravallis acted as the "lungs" of the National Capital Region by checking dust storms and absorbing pollutants.
"When pollution levels are so alarming even with the Aravalli standing, one can imagine how disastrous the situation will be without it," he said.
Highlighting the water crisis, the former chief minister said the rocky terrain of the Aravallis played a crucial role in groundwater recharge by channelising rainwater underground.
"If the hills are destroyed, drinking water shortages will intensify, wildlife will disappear and the entire ecology will be pushed into danger," he said.
Gehlot argued that, from a scientific perspective, the Aravallis was a continuous chain and that even smaller hillocks were as vital as higher peaks.
