Unidentified persons fired at the house of a leading Public Works Department contractor at Bevinja, near Cherkala, here on Thursday as police are investigating the suspected role of a Mangalore-based underworld group in the incident.
The firing at the house of M.T. Mohammed Kunhi occurred between 5 am and 5.15 am when the male members in the house had gone to a nearby mosque for morning prayers.
The bullets pierced through the walls of the house and smashed the glass panes of the ground floor office room where Mr. Mohammed Kunhi’s wife Mariyumma was reciting Koran as part of the Ramadan fast.
However, the woman managed to escape from being injured by the gun shots, Deputy Superintendent of Police M. P. Mohanachandran Nair told The Hindu .
Earlier attack
A team of officials led by SP Thomson Jose, the deputy SP and a Circle Inspector visited the house to gather evidence from the residents. The house had faced a similar attack nearly three years ago from the underworld group of Ravi Poojari based in Mangalore, seeking Rs. 50 crore as extortion amount, a senior police official said.
Ravi Poojari gang
The miscreants, suspected to have come on motorbikes, informed the office of a Malayalam newspaper that the attack was perpetrated by the members of gangster Ravi Poojari, the official said. Police recovered a round from the premises during the examination of the sprawling house, he said.
The immediate provocation for the surprise attack was being investigated and no persons have been arrested in connection with the case, he said.
