The National Investigation Agency, which is investigating the threat calls made to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, has left for Mumbai after receiving case documents from Nagpur police, news agency PTI reported citing an official on Saturday. An official said the NIA team arrived in Nagpur on Thursday to investigate the case, in which a murder convict is being held in a Karnataka jail.
According to police, Jayesh Pujari alias Kantha is accused of making the calls from a jail in Belgaum, Karnataka.
On January 14, he demanded Rs 100 crore from Gadkari, claiming to be a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, and on March 21, he demanded Rs 10 crore.
On March 28, police arrested him and brought him to Nagpur under the strict Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
“On Friday, the NIA team left for Mumbai. They took investigation reports and asked us to prepare some documents related to the case,” a Nagpur police station official quoted by PTI.
A police investigation discovered he had links to Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives and had received arms training from ultras in the country’s northeast, prompting the Ministry of Home Affairs to direct the NIA to launch an investigation, according to the official.
READ | Union Minister Nitin Gadkari Receives Another Threat Call At Delhi Residence: Police
“An NIA team led by a deputy inspector general has arrived in Nagpur.” The NIA team took possession of case papers for two offences registered in the matter at Dhantoli police station. “They will decide whether Kantha should be arrested right away,” a Nagpur police official said on Thursday.
Earlier, an unknown man threatened Union Minister Nitin Gadkari at his official residence on Motilal Nehru Road. The phone call was received by Gadkari’s office staff on Monday night (May 16). The caller provided no information and instead demanded to speak with and threaten the minister, according to the report.
It is to be noted that the minister’s office in Nagpur received such threat calls twice earlier this year.