KOCHI: As the custody period of don Ravi Pujari in the beauty parlour shooting case ends on Tuesday, the Kasaragod crime branch wing will seek his custody in another extortion case. Kerala Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) will produce Pujari at Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Court on Tuesday.
“He has confessed details of his extortion activities in Kerala as well as in other states. As far as the beauty parlour shooting case is concerned, we have collected several crucial pieces of evidence while he was in custody. The crime branch wing in Kasaragod has informed us that they will seek his custody. He will be produced at the open court as he has requested to meet his lawyer there. The Kasaragod crime branch will approach the court soon seeking Pujari’s custody,” an official said.
The Kasaragod crime branch and the ATS North Kerala wing are probing the extortion bid made by Pujari in 2008 and 2012 in which he and his henchman Manish Shetty threatened a contractor. Meanwhile, ATS recorded the second statement of actor Leena Maria Paul whose salon in Panampilly Nagar was attacked in the extortion attempt.
According to sources, Leena told ATS officials that she received multiple threat calls from unidentified numbers suspected to be made from abroad seeking money. She said that Rs 25 crore was demanded from her. She could also identify the voice of Pujari who made calls as part of the extortion bid.