Mahesh Bhatt testifies against gangster Ravi Pujari in the 2014 case of plotting to kill him

5 Oct 2017

Mahesh Bhatt , who accused gangster Ravi Pujari and his gang members of threatening his family, testified against them during a court session that was held on October 4, Wednesday over a 2014 case. In November 2014, Mumbai Crime Branch busted the conspiracy of Ravis gang of nine members who were plotting to kill Bhatt and family to instigate fear within the Bollywood industry. In fact, reports have it that the police officials even recovered weapons from them proving that they were indeed planning an attack at Bhatts residence. Testifying against them at the court designated under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime, Bhatt revealed about the threats received from his gang in 2007. He further reinstated that not only him but even his daughter received the same messages post the release of their film Dhoka.Mahesh Bhatt went on to assert that calls were made in his office too and also accused them of opening fire outside his office in the same year. Bhatt, who was examined by Special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat, also brought into light an incident about receiving threats whilst he was in Bangalore attending an event in 2008. Besides this, Bhatt also added names of two other Bollywood personalities filmmaker Ramesh Sippy and Kulmeet Makkad who were also threatened by Pujaris gang. On the other hand, Mahesh Bhatt spoke about the 2014 incident wherein he maintained that he received a call from Joint Commissioner of Police who informed him about the attack that was planned on his family. While that case is still under process, the police booked a separate case on Bhatts statements about threatening calls made to him and his daughter Pooja Bhatt.The court also observed that Ravi Pujari and his gang have been targeting several names from the film industry, as it referred to the Morani brothers case [producer of Happy New Year ] when they had trained their members to attack their office. It is being said that these were Pujaris attempt of establishing himself in the film industry by eliminating popular film personalities.