MANGALORE Mar, 6 (The Hindu): The Mangalore East Police, who are investigating the alleged underworld links of Sri Rama Sene State co-convener Prasad Attavara, have discovered a laptop belonging to him with key clues that might strengthen the case against him.
Attavara, who was arrested on Monday, is allegedly a gang member of underworld don Ravi Poojary. He allegedly carried out murders and extortions on Poojary's behalf. He has been booked for criminal conspiracy and several offences under the Indian Arms Act.
The police, who secured custody of Attavara on Wednesday evening, raided a relative's house on Friday and recovered the laptop based on information provided by him during interrogation.
The laptop contains a file with the names and addresses of around 30 of the city's top businessmen and builders.
Describing the list as a “vital clue”, police sources told The Hindu that these builders might have been on the extortion list of the Ravi Poojary gang. Superintendent of Police A.S. Rao said that the police were in the process of contacting these businessmen in the hope that some of them might actually come forward and register complaints against Attavara.
Police suspect that the laptop could also have been used to make threat calls using Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology. The calls made using this technology make the caller's number appear as though it belongs to a foreign country.
“We have contacted the internet service provider and are in the process of securing Attavara's entire web history,” Rao said. Rao said that he employed tactics to extort money from rich businessmen. After the initial threat was issued, Attavara would approach the businessman to mediate a financial settlement and keep a percentage of the payoff as commission. In other cases, he would arrange for a threat to be issued and then step in to offer “protection” to the unsuspecting victim.