Former underworld don Muttappa Rai passes away at Bengaluru hospital

Former underworld don Muttappa Rai passes away at Bengaluru hospital

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, May 15, 2020:  Former underworld don and founder  of Jaya Karnataka organisation, Muttappa Rai passed away at the Manipal Hospital here  during the wee hours of  May 15, Friday. He was 68 years of age. Rai is survived by his second wife and two sons, Rocky and Vicky.

 

Muttappa Rai was suffering from cancer since some  time. As his condition had deteriorated recently, he was admitted to the Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru on April 30.

Rai himself had revealed at a press conference some time back that he was suffering from brain cancer, thus putting an end to all speculations regarding his health.

Muttappa Rai’s first wife Rekha Rai had also died of ill-health in 2013 after which he had married Anuradha in 2018.

Muthappa Rai was born in Puttur, Dakshina Kannada. Rai was a bank employee who took to the underworld in 1970s. It did not take him a lot of time to establish himself.

He is said to be someone who introduced guns to the underworld in Bengaluru, that was still using swords and machettes then. Later, he shifted his base to Mumbai and Dubai where he further established himself as a businessman while continuing his operations in the underworld.

Karnataka police issued arrest warrants against Rai in eight cases, including murder and conspiracy. In 2002, he was deported to India from the United Arab Emirates. On arrival, he was questioned by various investigation agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Intelligence Bureau (IB), and by the Karnataka police. He was however, later acquitted due to the lack of evidences.

Subsequently he was cleared of all cases by the courts. For the last two decades, he claimed to have quit the underworld and got involved in social work through the charitable organisation Jaya Karnataka. Rai has appeared in a few films like ’Kanchilda Baale’ and ’Katari Veera Surasundarangi’.