CNN-IBN

Mumbai, Jun 15: Gangster Ravi Prakash Surya Pujari on Wednesday told CNN-IBN that it were his men who fired shots at Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's office on Wednesday morning.

Pujari, who spoke to CNN-IBN on the phone, said he had sent two men to kill Mahesh.

He alleged that Mahesh Bhatt is connected to Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel.

"Mahesh Bhatt works for Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel and launders their money. He travels overseas to meet them and that is why I targeted him," said Pujari.

"If I was scared of the police, I would not take responsibility for my actions. Why should I be scared? I am helping the country by trying to eliminate those linked with Dawood and Shakeel, who were responsible for the Mumbai blasts. I am doing the work the police should be doing. If we had found Mahesh Bhatt we would have killed him, not for money but for the nation," he added. 

Gangster Speak:

"The reason why I wanted to kill Mahesh Bhatt is because he works for underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel and launders money for them."

"I think I am doing the police's work by killing people who are affiliated to Dawood and Chhota Shakeel. I am doing a great service to the nation by killing such people."
 
"I did not give anyone a contract. I have a big gang, I assigned the job to two of my boys to kill him. But he was not there in the office, so they just fired at the office and left."

Pujari, who claimed that he was in Australia, said that dons like Dawood and Shakeel were traitors and deserved to die.

On Wednesday morning, an unidentified man fled after firing shots inside Mahesh's office in Juhu, Mumbai.

The man entered the office at 1210 hrs IST, held a gun to Bhatt's accountant Gilbert's head and asked for "the boss".

"When he was told that there was no one there, he got angry and fired twice at the ground near the door and then ran away on his motorbike," said Mahesh's brother and producer Mukesh Bhatt from Dubai.

The security guard of the building in which Bhatt's office is located, Siddik Khan, also saw the would-be attacker and in fact even spoke to him.

"He was parking his motorbike and I told him that bike's were not allowed in the parking lot. But, he didn't listen to me, parked his bike and went on to Mr Bhatt's office on the fourth floor."

Nobody was hurt in the incident. Mumbai Police officials, including encounter specialist Pradeep Sawant and filmmaker Ashok Pandit, rushed to the office after the incident.