Gadkari threat call: Police bring Afsar Pasha to Nagpur

 Afsar Pasha in police custody on Saturday.

 

 

Bengaluru terror attack case convict Afsar Pasha was arrested by city police on a production warrant from Karnataka’s Belagavi jail and brought to the city on Saturday evening amid tight security. Pasha came under city police’s scanner after they discovered his links with Jayesh Pujari, who was arrested for allegedly making threatening phone calls to Union minister Nitin Gadkari earlier this year. Commissioner of Police (CP) Amitesh Kumar said that the police team reached Belagavi on Thursday and started legal formalities to arrest Pasha.

 

His custody was obtained on Saturday, after which the team flew to Nagpur, he said. Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed two separate First Investigation Reports (FIRs) in Mumbai on the basis of the FIRs registered by Dhantoli police in the case under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Subsequently, the NIA moved an application to the Special Court in Nagpur seeking transfer of the UAPA cases registered at Dhantoli police stations. Nagpur police have submitted ‘No Objection’ for the NIA’s demand. The court will hear the matter on Monday. Pasha, a known member of Lashkar-e-Taiba, has held the position of national secretary in the Popular Front of India (PFI). He has been involved in several high-profile acts of terrorism, including bomb blasts in Dhaka and Bengaluru. Notably, Pasha had already received a life sentence in one case.

 

Despite being in the jail, he was found to be running a terrorist module from within the prison. Jayesh Pujari alias Kantha had links with Pasha as both were lodged in the same jail. It may be mentioned here that Pujari had made a threat call to Gadkari’s public relations office on January 14, demanding Rs 100/- crore and claiming to be a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang. At that time, he was lodged in the Belgavai jail. He made another call on March 21, threatening to harm Gadkari if Rs 10 crore were not paid to him. Pujari was arrested and brought to Nagpur on March 28 this year from a jail in Belagavi, and two cases were registered under provision of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act at Dhantoli police station.