Threat calls to Gadkari: Nagpur cops take custody of suspected caller

Nagpur Police took into custody a murder case convict from a jail in Belagavi in Karnataka in connection with the threat calls made to the office of Union minister Nitin Gadkari on two occasions

Nagpur Police on Tuesday took into custody a murder case convict from a jail in Belagavi in Karnataka in connection with the threat calls made to the office of Union minister Nitin Gadkari on two occasions, an official said.

The convict, identified as Jayesh Pujari alias Jayesh Kantha, was taken into custody from the Hindalga jail and brought to Nagpur in a flight in the morning, a Nagpur police officer said.

Two cases are registered against Pujari at Dhantoli police station in the city.

"He would be interrogated to understand his motive behind making the threat calls (to the Union minister)," the officer said, adding Pujari would be produced in a local court in the afternoon.

On January 14, a man identifying himself as Jayesh Pujari made threatening calls to Gadkari's public relations office in Nagpur city, demanding Rs 100 crore. The caller claimed that he was a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang.

Fresh calls threatening to harm Gadkari if Rs 10 crore was not paid were made to his office by the same person (Pujari) on March 21, police said.

Following the calls, security was increased at the Nagpur MP's home and office.

Pujari was sentenced to death in a murder case. He had denied his involvement in the threat calls.