A special court acquits gangster Ravi Poojary

Bengaluru, Aug. 20: A special court in Bengaluru acquitted Ravi Poojary, a notorious gangster on Thursday in the 2001 murder case of ‘builder’ Subbaraju for want of evidences.

Poojary who hailed from Malpe in Udupi district, was accused number two in the Subbaraju murder case. He was referred with many aliases like Ravi Prakash, Anthony Fernandez and Raki Fernandez.

Six other accused, including reformed don late Muthappa Rai, prime accused in the case, were acquitted in 2004. While sharpshooter Nitin Sawant, who had allegedly shot Subbaraju, was killed in a police encounter, another sharpshooter Yusuf Bachkana was only accused to be convicted in the case.

Poojary had escaped from India in the 90s was operating from foreign countries, was arrested in Senegal in 2019 in a coordinated operation by Karnataka police and Senegal law enforcement agencies. He was extradited to India in 2020.

The police had interrogated him in connection with Subbaraju’s murder and submitted a split-up chargesheet to the court. The Special Court on Central Prison premises had conducted the trial during which 12 witnesses were examined.

On Thursday, Special Sessions Judge G Raghavendra acquitted Poojary as the prosecution failed to prove the case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

Subbaraju, a real estate businessman, was shot dead in his office, Srinivasa Enterprises, located in Sheshadripuram, on January 5, 2001. The murder was allegedly carried out at the behest of Poojary. Investigations had revealed Subbaraju had angered Muthappa Rai over disputed prime properties on Cunningham Road, Crescent Road and other localities. As Subbaraju had turned down Rai’s offer to close some deal, the latter had allegedly met Poojary at his villa near the American Embassy in Uganda, where he gave supari (contract). Poojary allegedly gave the hit job to the sharpshooters and allegedly took `2 lakh from Rai.

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