CHENNAI: History-sheeter 'Kalvettu' Ravi, who has more than 30 cases including murders and extortion pending against him, was arrested from a hideout in Andhra Pradesh. He hit the headlines recently when he joined the BJP with much fanfare.
A police team led by joint commissioner (north) V Balakrishnan surrounded him when he was on his way to attend a relative's wedding. He was brought to Chennai and handed over to the New Washermenpet police station.
In September last year, Kalvettu' Ravi alias J Ravishankar, 37, came to attend a BJP event in Vandalur and managed to escape on being tipped off that police were trailing him. Ravi, a resident of VOC Nagar , has 30 cases pending against him, including six murders, apart from extortion, assault and kidnap cases. Ravi, a petty offender as a juvenile, started off as a contract goon in a murder case reported in 2003 in Kelamabakkam.
Later, he joined gangster 'Kakkathope' Balaji and indulged in extortion at lorry sheds which eventually gave rise to several of his enemies.
Over a period of time, he earned the wrath of another gangster Arcot Suresh, whose men attacked him inside the central prison in Puzhal.
In 2014, Ravi murdered gangster 'Bokkai' Ravi inside the Government Royapettah Hospital in retaliation for a murder of one of his gang members.
He has been detained under the Goondas Act five times, and was absconding since 2017.