Cops chase down Poojary's henchman

BANGALORE: Sending a strong signal to gangsters trying to threaten and extort money from builders in the city, the police chased down and shot at one of don Ravi Poojary's chief aides in the wee hours of Sunday.
City Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths shot at Harish Tholar after the chase on Jnana Bharathi campus. Harish had taken over the mantle from Poojary's main henchman Pandu Pai after the latter was murdered in Mangalore a month ago.Police said Harish was involved in intimidating the city's realtors and passing their phone numbers to his boss.
Police had specific information that Harish was travelling alone in a four-wheeler on Saturday night, on his way to meet someone. A CCB team immediately started tracking him down. When he was at Jnana Bharathi campus around 4.15 am, inspector Balegowda's team started chasing him. He zipped through the campus but was finally cornered by inspectors S K Umesh, N H Siddappa and Poovaiah near the administrative block.
Police said Harish tried to swerve away but hit a water pipe on a pavement. He got out of the car and `allegedly' tried to shoot the policemen. Umesh and Siddappa fired two rounds in return and hit Harish on his knee and thigh. Balegowda shot twice at the car's wheels. Harish is now undergoing treatment at Victoria Hospital.
TIP-OFFS WORKED
After repeated complaints from builders about Poojary's threat and ransom calls, a special team was formed headed by DCP (Crime) S N Siddaramappa. The team was able to nab 10 of the gangster's aides in February and March this year.
Based on a tip-off, the team had raided a bar in Gandhinagar on Thursday and arrested five -- Sunil Shetty, 31, of T Dasarahalli; Gadwin Chethan, 43, of Mangalore; Chandrakanth, 26, of Kumble near Kasaragod; Pavan Kumar Shetty, 28, of Maruthisevanagar; and Ganesh Bhosle, 37, of Bolar, Mangalore. After interrogating these five, the sleuths arrested two more -- Shabbir Jasbir Gilani alias Jabi, 26, of Kambatthi Banda Sale in Mangalore, and Ajith Kumar Shetty, 30, of Amasebailu near Kundapur. Based on information provided by them, the police learned Harish Tholar lived in the city and reported to Poojary on a daily basis.
After Pandu Pai's murder, Poojary's dependence on Harish is said to have increased. Harish collected builders' phone numbers and passed them on to Poojary, who in turn called and threatened them, police said.
WHO IS HARISH?
* Harish, 33, son of Kushal Tholar, an arrack contractor, is a native of Palamane near Kundapur
* Said to be involved in several murder, kidnap and extortion cases in Karnataka and Kerala
* In 1998, he was arrested for the murder of Prakash Shetty in Shankaranarayana police limits. However, he was acquitted and went to Mumbai before returning to Mangalore to join Pandu Pai. Police had opened rowdy sheets against him in Konaje and Ullala
* In 2005, Harish and Girish, another henchman of Poojary, `allegedly' kidnapped businessman S S Manjunath near Atria Hotel. The gang kept Manjunath in a thatched hut near Nelamangala check-post and took Rs 15 lakh as ransom to release him, police said. A case was registered then at Vidhana Soudha police station and Harish was arrested. He subsequently obtained bail
* Also said to be involved in an extortion case in Vengara police limits near Mallappuram, Kerala
* Accused of murdering businessman Subba Rao in Mangalore after taking supari from Bannanje Raja, another gangster
* Harish had for a while fled to Mumbai and from there to Dubai, where Ravi Poojary sheltered him
* Came to the city five months ago and shifted his base every 20 days along with Shabbir and Ajith Kumar Shetty. They were staying in Devarachikkanahalli near BTM Layout, from where the police picked up Shabbir and Ajith and got information about Harish