Karwar: Shots fired at miner’s house

Two motorcycle-borne youths opened fire at the house of local Congress leader and mining businessman Sathish Shail at Sadashivgad in the city on Sunday night.

“The two, whose identities are yet to be ascertained, parked their bike outside the gate of Shail's sprawling estate, and asked for Shail. When the watchman asked them to remove their helmets, they picked up a quarrel with him, threatened him with a knife, handed him a letter and fired two rounds at the house before speeding away,” superintendent of police KT Balakrishna said.
“The letter, signed by a certain BR in Hindi, warned Sail and his family to be careful as he failed to accept their demands. It rebuked him for stop giving hafta (protection money) and said he should resume giving it,” Balakrishna said. “The assailants identified themselves ‘Bhais from America’,” he added. Following the incident, Shail went into hiding, sources said.

Shail's mining business has been booming. He had contested as Congress candidate from Karwar Assembly constituency and lost to fisheries minister Anand Asnotikar.

Police seized two empty cartridges from the spot and registered a case under the Arms Act and IPC. “Investigation into the incident is on and efforts are made to find out the identity of the motorcyclists,” the SP said.