Bengaluru Pub Owner, Alleged Aide Of Fugitive Don Bannanje Raja, Shot Dead By Bike-Borne Attackers

A bar owner was shot dead in Bengaluru by unidentified bike-borne assailants in full public view. The motive for the murder is yet to be ascertained. Reports suggest that the bar owner had strong links with fugitive don Bannanje Raja.

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Bengaluru: The owner of a pub in Bengaluru died after he was shot at in the heart of the city last night. Unidentified men opened fire at Manish Shetty, who owns a bar near Brigade Road, at around 9 pm. According to an IANS report, Shetty was reportedly a close associate of Morocco-based fugitive underworld don Bannanje Raja. Also Read|J&K: Indian Army Restores Damaged Grave Of Decorated Pakistan Officer, Says 'A Soldier Is A Soldier First' Police said that the assailants allegedly stabbed Manish Shetty before shooting him with a double-barreled gun and then speeding away. According to the police, Manish was standing outside his bar on Thursday night when he was allegedly hacked up with machetes and then later shot at. Police said that Manish Shetty was hacked on his head four times. The police suspect that Manish, who was associated with gangster Ravi Pujari, may have been targeted by his rivals. Manish hailed from Koppa in Chikkamagaluru and has several cases registered against him in Dakshina Kannada district as well as in Mumbai, including an attempt to murder case, police sources told TNM. He also was registered as a rowdy sheeter in Mangaluru, they added. He is known to be close to underworld don Ravi Pujari, who was nabbed by the Bengaluru police earlier in February and an investigation against him is currently underway, the source confirmed. Police said that Manish Shetty had been in and out of prison several times before this, and was also allegedly the mastermind of several jewel heists in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The police said that Manish Shetty was the mastermind of the jewellery heist at Chemmanur Jewellers in Bengaluru in 2006. Shetty is alleged to be a close associate of Bannanje Raja, Who is this Morroco based fugitive don? Fugitive underworld don Bannanje Raja, who is set to be extradited by the Moroccan government by next week, was booked under the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA) in the murder of R N Nayak, a businessman, at Ankola in Uttara Kannada district on 2013. In 2012, he contacted Nayak and demanded money (hafta). Nayak refused to yield to his threat and contacted the Angola Police and lodged a complaint against Raja. The police posted a gunman to provide him security. On December 21, 2013 when Nayak was coming out of his office, four contract killers shot him and he died on the spot.