Five found guilty in advocate murder case

Five found guilty in advocate murder case

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Nov 28, 2015: In the sensational murder that shook the city six years ago, the District and Sessions Court has found five alleged associates of underworld operative Ravi Poojary guilty of murdering advocate Noushad Kashimji — who represented Dawood Ibrahim’s alleged associate, Rashid Malabari, in a case in Mangaluru court. The court will pronounce punishment on Friday.

The 3rd Additional District and Sessions Judge S.H. Pushpanjali Devi has convicted Dinesh Shetty (30), Pratap Shetty (32), Ritesh Kulal (26), Subramanya (30) and Ganesh (34) in the case. While Dinesh, Pratap and Kulal have been found guilty of murder, Subramanya and Ganesh have been found guilty of sheltering the assailants and hiding evidence related to the murder.

Noushad’s murder on April 9, 2009, had shocked the city as it was the first instance where an underworld operative had gone beyond issuing threats to the rich in the region.

According to the charge sheet, Ravi Poojary directed Dinesh to hire two persons to murder the advocate. Dinesh bought weapons from Aland in Kalaburagi district and from Bengaluru, and he entrusted the work to Pratap and Ritesh.

On the fateful day, Dinesh called Naushad from a public booth and talked about the Rashid Malabari case. As soon as Naushad left his apartment on Sturrock Road, Pratap and Ritesh fired two rounds and used the firearms to hit the advocate on his head, which led to his death.

A special investigation team — set up by the then Inspector-General of Police (Western Range) Gopal B. Hosur and Superintendent of Police Subramanyeshwara Rao — arrested nine persons. Twelve persons, including underworld operatives Ravi Poojary and Khali Yogish, were named as accused.

The police had recovered three pistols, eight rounds of ammunition and Rs. 3.5 lakh in cash from them. A charge sheet was filed by investigation officer N.R. Mukri. Prosecutors Shivaprasad Alva and Narayan Sherigar examined as many as 72 witnesses.

 

Courtesy: The Hindu