Police arrest three for extortion in Mangaluru

MANGALURU: The

anti-rowdy squad

of the

Mangaluru city police

on Thursday arrested three people in connection with a conspiracy to kill BJP leader from Kateel, around 19km from here.

Police have identified the arrested persons as Pradeep Poojary, a resident of Ulaibettu,

Dinesh Belchada

, hailing from Bantwal and Shivaprasad from Mulki. They are part of a gang operating from Kinnigoli, it is learnt.

They are alleged to have hatched a conspiracy to kill

Eshwar Kateel

, a prospective MLA candidate for the Moodbidri-Mulki constituency from the BJP.

Eshwar on the other hand, has alleged that a Congress leader from the locality had bought the trio to get him killed.

According to sources, police got a tip-off about the trio when they were extorting money at Battakodi-Shibaroor near Kinnigoli and nabbed them. Weapons and a car were recovered.

A case of extortion has been registered at the Mulki police station.