Belagavi, Aug 29: A special court established under the Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act, 2000, headed by the District Principal and Sessions Judge P. Krishna Bhat, on Friday passed orders remanding underworld don Bannanje Raja in judicial custody till September 11.
The accused was produced before the court on the last day of his 15-day police custody. The accused was in the custody of the Udupi police since August 14. The court remanded him in judicial custody as Udupi Superintendent of Police Annamalai K. submitted that the 15 days of his custody need not be extended.
However, he told the court that the Udupi police could seek his custody if needed for investigation.
Raja was brought under tight police security from Udupi to Belagavi and the judge ordered “in-camera” proceedings. Amar Courrea of Bengaluru represented the accused before the court.
Mr. Annamalai said that he declined to take Raja under police custody as there was no need but due to the number of cases he faced in various police stations across the State, the police concerned could take him into their custody for investigation.Until then, the accused would be housed into the Central Prison at Hindalga on the outskirts of Belagavi. Bananje Raja was produced before the Belgavi KCOCA court in connection with the murder of entrepreneur R.N. Nayak in 2013.
Later, the police handed over the accused to the Hindalga jail authorities in the afternoon. Subsequently, he was taken back to be produced before a Udupi court, official sources said.
Raja was detained in Morocco in February this year and extradited to Karnataka and produced before the Belagavi KCOCA court on Aug.14, which has jurisdictional power over at least six districts, including Udupi. He was wanted in at least 44 cases in Karnataka and adjoining areas.
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