Continuing investigations into the attempt to murder Kannada film producer Umapathy and his brother in December 2020, a special team from South division police arrested 37-year-old Kariya Rajesh from a hotel in Pokhara, Nepal.
Rajesh is one of the prime accused in the case and a close associate of gangster Bombay Ravi, who is also on the run and is said to have fled the country.
Harish Pandey, DCP, South division, who is supervising the investigation, said on Tuesday that Bombay Ravi and Rajesh wanted to have a hold on the film industry. They demanded ₹30 lakh from Umapathy and his brother Deepak. When the brothers refused to pay, the gangsters decided to eliminate them to send a strong message to the film industry.
As per the plan, Bombay Ravi and his associates were waiting for Umapathy and Deepak in Jayanagar when the police were alerted. Bombay Ravi and Rajesh managed to escape, but 11 of their associates were arrested.
While Ravi fled the country, Rajesh was traced to Nepal.
Investigations revealed that Ravi is linked to Rashid Malbari, a sharp-shooter of the Dawood Ibrahim gang.
“We suspect that Ravi was helped by someone from the D-company to flee the country. We are trying to track him down,” Mr. Pandey said.