Ravi Pujari confesses to role in beauty parlour shooting, attempt was to extort hawala money

KOCHI: Underworld gangster Ravi Pujari has confessed that he planned the shooting at beauty parlour in Kochi to extort crores of hawala money that was in the possession of actress Leena Maria Paul and her partner Sekhar Chandrasekhar. The actress did not give in despite several threats demanding Rs 25 crore. Police sources told Kerala Kaumudi that Ravi Pujari had confessed during the interrogation conducted by the Anti-Terror Squad and the Crime Branch that the operation was carried out with the help of his followers in Kerala.

The interrogation was led by IG Anoop Kuruvila, head of the Anti-Terrorism Squad. The crime branch will continue interrogation in at the district headquarters in Tripunithura today.

On December 15, 2018, two men on a bike opened fire at actress Leena Maria's beauty parlour. Four days later, Pujari called a Malayalam TV channel and claimed that he was behind the attack. Bilal (35), a resident of Aluva Kompara, and Vipin Varghese (30), a resident of Kadavanthra Kasturbanagar, were arrested by the Crime Branch for carrying out the attack.

Audio samples will be collected to scientifically confirm that it was Pujari who called Leena Maria and the TV channel. Former Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala received a phone call in 2018 under the name Don. It is suspected that this was Pujari.