SRS leader Prasad Attavar arrested, links with underworld revealed

SRS leader Prasad Attavar arrested, links with underworld revealed

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Mar 2: Police arrested Prasad Attavar on March 1 for allegedly receiving money from the international gangster Ravi Poojary in order to run the gangster’s criminal empire in Coastal Karnataka. 

Reliable sources within the Shri Rama Sene (SRS) said that the organization is shocked at the arrest of its most active and senior members, Prasad Attavar and Arun Puthila, who was arrested at Puttur soon afterwards. 

Attavar stands accused of having supported Dinesh, who is now in Mysore Jail for killing advocate Naushad Kashimji. He is also accused of distributing funds on behalf of Ravi Poojary to various criminal organizations in Mangalore. Already the DCIB has arrested 7 associates of Ravi Poojary; and Attavar’s is the 8th arrest. SRS is now worried about the possibility that many more people might have received funds from Ravi Poojary through Attavar and his associates.

SRS activists have also revealed a split within the organization during the past few months regarding financial issues. Those who were unhappy with the developments might have revealed the unsavory information to the police. Thirty youths have left SRS to join other pro-Hindu organizations or to start their own groups. 

In the wake of communal disturbances in Shimoga and Hassan, police have tightened security in Mangalore. SP A S Rao said that the police are “not taking any chances in Mangalore.” The situation in Mangalore is tense at present following the arrest of Prasad Attavar and Arun Puthila, both top leaders of the SRS. The police might arrest many more SRS members in the near future.