Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, May 20 : Senior Congress leader H M Revanna, who is likely to be inducted into the Cabinet later this month by the Congress government in Karnataka, received an extortion call from gangster Ravi Pujari.

Revanna, a close aide of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has lodged a police complaint seeking protection. It is said that Revanna received the call when he was at the Belagavi airport from an unidentified number. The caller identified himself as Ravi Pujari and placed a demand of Rs 10 crore.

The Congressman's son, Anup, is shortly debuting on the silverscreen through a Kannada movie titled Lakshmana. Pujari told Revanna that if he wanted a hassle-free release of the movie, he should pay up the money. He also threatened to bump off his son and the movie director in case the money was not paid.

The police are trying to ascertain the source of the call, as they believe a VoIP-phone was used by the gangster to issue the threat to the Congress leader.