Mumbai:
Close on the heels of a fatal assault on a criminal lawyer by the underworld, senior advocate Ashok Sarogi has received a threatening letter purportedly from an aide of gangster Ravi Pujari asking him to stop defending "crooks and traitors" or "face bullets".
Sarogi, who defended extradited gangster Abu Salem in the 1993 serial bomb blasts trial but withdrew from the case in 2008, received the letter yesterday at his Goregaon office.
The letter is written by Uday Shetty who claimed to be close associate of gangster Pujari, a police official said.
"The two-page letter written in English states that the lawyer is defending Jignesh Rathod of Auram Realty which it claimed is cheating innocent investors to the tune of crores of rupees," the official said.
The letter warned him and Rathod to refund the money of investors or face death within a week in the same manner in which Shahid Azmi, defence lawyer in the 26/11 terror attack case, was killed this February," the official added.
On February 11, four assailants barged into Azmi's office and shot at him from a close range. He was pronounced dead in a hospital where he was rushed with serious injuries.
Sarogi told PTI "the letter also said that they were following me for last few years and claimed that I have been defending crooks and traitors like Abu Salem. They also asked me to stop defending such people or face bullets."
Sarogi said the letter claimed he would die like Shahid if he did not obey their orders.
"The letter stated that me, my family, Rathod, his family and others managing the company would be killed if the investors do not get entire capital amount along with the interest," he said.
The lawyer has forwarded a copy of the letter along with his complaint to the commissioner of police and the MRA Marg police station.
Sarogi, who defended extradited gangster Abu Salem in the 1993 serial bomb blasts trial but withdrew from the case in 2008, received the letter yesterday at his Goregaon office.
The letter is written by Uday Shetty who claimed to be close associate of gangster Pujari, a police official said.
"The two-page letter written in English states that the lawyer is defending Jignesh Rathod of Auram Realty which it claimed is cheating innocent investors to the tune of crores of rupees," the official said.
The letter warned him and Rathod to refund the money of investors or face death within a week in the same manner in which Shahid Azmi, defence lawyer in the 26/11 terror attack case, was killed this February," the official added.
On February 11, four assailants barged into Azmi's office and shot at him from a close range. He was pronounced dead in a hospital where he was rushed with serious injuries.
Sarogi told PTI "the letter also said that they were following me for last few years and claimed that I have been defending crooks and traitors like Abu Salem. They also asked me to stop defending such people or face bullets."
Sarogi said the letter claimed he would die like Shahid if he did not obey their orders.
"The letter stated that me, my family, Rathod, his family and others managing the company would be killed if the investors do not get entire capital amount along with the interest," he said.
The lawyer has forwarded a copy of the letter along with his complaint to the commissioner of police and the MRA Marg police station.
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