Arijit Singh, the playback singer of bollywood, who has mesmerized audiences all over the world and is known for his versatile songs was recently threatened by the notorious gangster Ravi Pujari over a phone call.
According to reports, Pujari asked Arijit to pay him Rs 5 crores as hafta (protection money). After Singh told Pujari he doesn’t have that much money and will not be able to meet the demand, Pujari told Singh that he likes his voice and asked him to do a couple of shows organised by his men instead, said the reports quoting police officials.
Arjit Singh approached the police after the call. While Singh hasn’t lodged a formal complaint against Pujari in the matter, the Oshiwara Police Station has made a diary entry about the case.
Speaking to a leading daily about the incident Singh says, “This is the first time something like this has happened to me. And I don’t think it is a big deal at all. All organisers want to make money and this is getting out of hand because of Ravi Pujari’s name being involved. It’s all a part and parcel of the business.”
Arijit also said, “”I am touring the US in September and have a lot of shows coming up there. The shows are being handled by Nattu bhai, who had organised my US tour in 2014 as well. Nattu bhai coordinates with promoters from different cities and gets a lot of last-minute requests for extra shows.
“We decided to not go ahead with one such promoter because he kept bargaining for a lower budget. This particular promoter had certain connections and contacted Ravi Pujari, who exerted a lot of pressure of my manager, Tarsane. I do not answer calls when I am at my studio and Pujari kept pressurising Tarsane, who got scared and informed me of the calls, and then filed a police complaint.”
“I don’t know Ravi Pujari and I did not receive a threat directly from him. He asked me to perform for free at a couple of shows, and my manager was being pushed to comply. I was not asked for any money directly, and honestly, I do not earn that kind of money either,” Singh added.
Arijit hasn’t asked for police protection, said the report quoting Oshiwara police officials.
