We will thoroughly investigate threat call to Nitin Gadkari: Karnataka CM Bommai

Bengaluru, Jan 16: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said his government will thoroughly investigate the case pertaining to the threat call to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari from the Hindalga jail in Belagavi.

The caller had made threatening calls to the Nagpur office of Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Gadkari and demanded Rs 100 crore. ''The caller told the phone operator that he is a member of the D gang and demanded Rs 100 crore from Gadkari. He threatened to harm the minister with a bomb if his demand is not met,'' he said. The caller also shared his mobile number and the address in Karnataka where he said the money must be sent, he said.

Investigations revealed that the alleged caller Jayesh Pujari is an inmate of the Hindalga jail and was sentenced to death by a court in a murder case in the past, police said on Sunday.

According to police, Pujari had also allegedly claimed that he was a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang. ''The call was made from Hindalga jail. We are getting the entire thing investigated. We have taken the matter various seriously,'' Bommai told reporters here.

The Chief Minister also said they would do a background check of the person who made the call.

Pujari, who was sentenced to death by a court in a murder case, had escaped from jail in 2016, but was later arrested by the Karnataka police.