LeT links under lens as man threatens Gadkari, say officials

Pujari also revealed his alleged links to people involved in terrorism activities in Bengaluru and his association with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the NIA mentioned in its FIR, the official added.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has found that gangster Jayesh Pujari, also known as Shakeer Ahmed, who made three telephonic threat calls to Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari from a Belagavi prison, earlier this year, has connections with Islamic terrorist organisations, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, officials familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

NIA has found that gangster Jayesh Pujari who made three threat calls to Nitin Gadkari has connections with Lashkar-e-Taiba, (ANI)

According to a senior official, the NIA filed a first information report (FIR) against Pujari in a NIA court in the third week of May.

The FIR said, “During interrogation, he confessed to making the three phone calls to Gadkari’s office. The calls took place on January 14 and March 21, with Pujari claiming to have called from Belagavi, Karnataka.”

Pujari also revealed about his alleged links to people involved in terrorism activities in Bengaluru and his association with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the NIA mentioned in its FIR, the official added.

Currently serving a life sentence in Belagavi’s Hindalaga jail since 2013 for a murder in his hometown Mangaluru in 2011, Pujari converted to Islam while in prison and changed his name to Shakeer Ahmed.

“After conversion to Islam, he used to offer namaz five times every day,” the jail staff told HT on condition of anonymity.

Local senior police officials and jail staff closely monitoring Pujari’s activities told HT that he converted to Islam after coming into contact with Basiruddin Noorahmed, also known as Afsar Pasha, an inmate associated with the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba, operating in Jammu and Kashmir.

Basiruddin Pasha is imprisoned in Belagavi jail for his involvement in planting and detonating bombs in Bengaluru in 2012. He has also been convicted in a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said.

Formerly associated with the Hindu right-wing organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Pujari made threatening calls to Gadkari’s Sarvajanik Samparka Kendra (Public Relation Office) in Khamla, Nagpur, demanding money and threatening to harm the minister if the demands were not met, police said.

During his first call on January 14 this year, Pujari demanded ₹100 crore, followed by another, call just an hour later, where he asked for ₹10 crore.

During his third call on March 21, Pujari once again demanded ₹100 crore while claiming to be calling on behalf of fugitive underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s gang. He provided the name of an individual residing in Bengaluru and instructed the person to make the payment, the officials said.

Based on caller identification records, Maharashtra police confirmed that Pujari had called Gadkari’s office from Belagavi, Karnataka.

The Maharashtra police shared the caller’s location with their Karnataka counterparts, and with the assistance of the Belagavi police, they traced the calls to Hindalga jail, officials said. Following the necessary procedures, the Nagpur police took custody of Pujari for further investigation.

During the inquiry, police discovered that he had links with Islamic terrorist organisations, following which the NIA took over the investigation.

After thorough verification, the NIA concluded that the person Pujari named for receiving money in Bengaluru was fictitious, likely a ploy to mislead the investigation agencies, officials said.

Pujari, according to Belagavi Jail superintendent Krishna Kumar, used the cell phones of newly admitted prisoners by telling them that he needed to call his wife.

“In both occasions, he used the same tactics and called minister Gadkari’s office instead of his wife,” the jailer said, adding that Pujari had a history of making such calls to gain attention from national media and top officials.

Pujari also called and threatened Karnataka ADGP Alok Kumar from the jail in March 2022, the jailer said.

“Pujari, to drag the attention of the national media has a practice of doing such calls from the jail to top brass as well the high-rank officials from jail,” he added.

Both state and central intelligence departments believe that Jayesh Pujari, alias Shakeer Ahmed, is associated with Dawood Ibrahim’s gang.

“He is one of the members of Dawood’s gang in India, primarily involved in extorting money from affluent individuals,” said a police officer.