BENGALURU: The driver of Ricky Rai, son of former don-turned-social activist Muthappa Rai, stated in his complaint to the Bidadi police that an assailant shot at their SUV just after midnight on Saturday.
The driver, G Basavaraju, stated that he has been working for Ricky for the past four to five years. “Ricky had often told me that he had life threats and was always cautious. He stayed in Sadashivanagar, Bengaluru, and also had a house in Bidadi. On Friday evening, around 6, we left his Sadashivanagar residence and reached the Bidadi house around 7.30 pm. As usual, we took a rest, and around 11 pm, he informed me that we had to leave for Bengaluru. I, Ricky, and his bodyguard Rajpal left the Bidadi residence in a black Fortuner (KA 53 MC 7128),” he stated.
“While we were driving, we suddenly heard a loud sound at one location. I stopped the car a little further, got down and checked the tires. Since everything seemed fine, we continued our journey and reached up to the railway crossing in Bidadi. At that point, Ricky told us that he had forgotten his wallet at home, so we returned to the Bidadi house.
After about one-and-a-half hours, around 12.50 am, we again left for Bengaluru. As soon as we crossed the gate of the Bidadi house and were exiting, at the exact location where we had heard the sound around 11 pm, a series of gunshots were fired at the car.
I narrowly escaped, but Ricky sustained serious injuries in his nose and right shoulder. He was bleeding profusely and was in a critical condition. I immediately stopped the vehicle, got out and found Ricky, who was in the backseat, badly injured. He was taken to Bharat Kempaiah Hospital in Bidadi. The doctors advised that he be shifted to Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru for advance treatment,” the complaint stated.
“When I asked Ricky about who might be behind the attack, despite being in pain, he expressed suspicion on Rakesh Malli, Anuradha and Nitesh Shetty, the owner of Nitesh Estates, Vaidyanathan and their followers. He mentioned that his father, Muthappa Rai, had many enemies during his lifetime and that there had been past attempts on his life. He mentioned that his father, who died of cancer, was also threatened and mentally harassed by Rakesh Malli and Anuradha in his final days,” Basavaraju stated.
