BENGALURU: The city police, who probing the shootout case in which Dasanapura APMC chief Kadabagere Srinivas was targeted, on Tuesday raided the residence of gangster-turned-writer Agni Sridhar and recovered country- made pistols and other unlicenced lethal weapons. During interrogation, Sridhar suffered a heart attack and is undergoing treatment in a private hospital. Police also arrested nine men, including Sridhar, under the Arms Act.
The others arrested are said to be his associates Syed Aman Bachhan (54), a resident of KS Layout, Tanvir (34) of Banashankari, Arun Kumar (24) of Kanakapura, Varun Kumar (20) of KS Layout and Brij Bhushan (38), Ramkumar Roy (37) and Sabir (58), all three from Uttar Pradesh. Some of them were working as his bodyguards.
According to police, the raid was conducted in connection with a complaint filed with Yelahanka police on February 2 by one Tata Ramesh alleging a threat to life by Sridhar over political rivalry.
Armed with a a search warrant issued by a court, senior police officials conducted the raid based on suspicion that Sridhar has given shelter to one of the prime accused who attacked Kadabagere Srinivas last Friday.
Police said they received information that Sridhar was harbouring rowdy Rohit alias Onte, a close associate of rowdy Silent Sunila, the prime accused in the murder attempt on Srinivas. The complainant Tata Ramesh is a close associate of Kadabagere Srinivas. Senior officials believe that Rohith was given a contract to eliminate Srinivas.
The APMC chief sustained bullet injuries in the recent bid on his life. Yelahanka police had on Monday arrested a suspect, Sathish, who is close to Yelahanka MLA S R Vishwanath.
During interrogation, he revealed information regarding Rohith, who was absconding after the shootout.
When Agni Sridhar was taken to hospital on Tuesday, Rohith rushed to see him and police arrested and took thm into custody.
Speaking to reporters, DCP Harsha said the special team which is investigating the shootout case had found that Rohith had visited the residence of Sridhar after the incident.
“During the raid, we found that there were criminal activities going on.
We seized weapons which were illegally stocked in the house. We are yet to ascertain if they had any plan to attack someone.” The search operation started early on Tuesday and went on till evening. However, police are yet to establish conclusively who are directly involved in the attack on Srinivas or the motive.