Muthappa Rai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Muthappa was an Underworld Don currently based in a Posh locality in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. He was in the most wanted list of criminals of Karnataka.Rai is alleged to be controlling the underword activities of Bangalore with the help of Mumbai underworld don Chotta Rajan.
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[edit] Jairaj Murder
Rai attained notoriety and publicity in underworld with the murder of the then underworld don of Bangalore M.P.Jairaj in 1989. Jairaj's murder changed the whole underworld scene of bangalore as that was the first time a revolver was used to kill somebody in Bangalore. Till then murders were done by knives and swords. Jairaj was supposed to have been very powerful and had links with many bigshots in the government.
[edit] Growth as Criminal
Rai comes from Puttur, a small Town near Mangalore in Dakshina Kannada district. Early on, as a Congress worker he was involved in a knife attack to protect his friend who was contesting a local level election. He wasa a clerk in Vijaya Bank (Nationalised bank)in Puttur. He later opted for a transfer to Mumbai and married his friend a girl from Coorg against his family wishes. It is said that in Bombay he got introduced to various underworld people and their "Gun Culture". He quit the job to manage a night club named "Omar Kayyaam" in Brigade Road,Bangalore. He soon came to control a number of night clubs and was involved in shady real estate deals. He had close links with gangsters such as M.P. Jairaj (who was shot dead in 1989 allegedly at the behest of Rai by men hired from Mumbai in 1989), 'Oil' Shiv Kumar and Sridhar Murthy. Rai and 'Oil' Kumar were allegedly involved in a fuel adulteration racket and jointly ran a petrol station. They fell apart eventually and Kumar was murdered in 1990.
[edit] Shifting to Dubai
Rai was arrested by the police while he was settling a real estate deal. In 1992, when he was brought to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court in Bangalore, Narayan Salian, a friend of Amar Alva who was allegedly murdered by Rai's gang, came in the guise of an advocate, shot and seriously injured Rai. Rai shifted base to Madikeri and Heggadedevanakote near Mysore. He was allegedly instrumental in the murder in 1996, of Robert D'Silva, a timber merchant from Madikeri. He fled to Dubai using a fake passport. In a case of mistaken identity, Rai's men from Mumbai shot dead Seena, the car driver of Sridhar Murthy, in Bangalore in 1997. The real target was Sridhar Murthy. Rai's name was in the news also after a sharpshooter from Mumbai, Eric D'Souza, was shot dead in an encounter by the Bangalore police in December 1999. It was alleged that D'Souza was sent to Bangalore by Rai to eliminate Sridhar Murthy. Operating from Dubai, Rai promoted Bannanje Raja, a gangster in Bangalore. It was through Bannanje Raja and others, informed sources say, that Rai conducted his operations in Bangalore. Bannanje Raja, along with Arif and Syed, was involved in a shootout in Bangalore in 1998. He fled the country after the incident. Bannanje Raja is among the six most wanted criminals, according to the website of the Bangalore City Police.
[edit] Arrest
Rai was held by the Dubai police in early May 2002 on charges of travelling without relevant travel documents. He was handed over to the Interpol in Dubai. Informed sources said that Rai himself wanted to come back to India since it was getting too hot for him in Dubai, especially after the killing in Mumbai of Sadhu Shetty, a hotelier who was said to have been close to Chhota Rajan. Sadhu Shetty is said to have tipped off Rai on Chhota Rajan's presence in an apartment in Bangkok. This information was allegedly passed on to Chhota Shakeel by Rai. Rai is also said to have fallen out with Sharad Shetty. The latter was reportedly unhappy that Rai, after the murder of Subbaraju, started negotiating directly with the realtor's sons, bypassing his representative. According to informed sources, RAW, which has 'used' Chhota Rajan to get information on Dawood's activities, may also have had a hand in the deportation of Rai and might now want to 'use' Rai. Sharad Shetty was later shot and killed by mobsters out side India club in Dubai.By that time Rai had been deported back to India and was placed at"Parappana Agrahara" jail at Outskirts of Bangalore.Rai underwent trial for all the charges faced by him in India in a fast track court and finally got acquitted in all of them.He walked out of the jail as free man. Later in subsequent interviews with the press he claimed to have given up all the activities and links with underworld. Rai who is now said to be reformed works as a real estate developer and a social worker. Rai continues to maintain a heavy security of armed body guards whenever he ventures out in Public.
