Gangster Ravi Pujari was arrested on Thursday in West African nation of Senegal. The action against the dreaded underworld don was taken after the Bengaluru City Police issued a Red Corner Notice against him.
With his arrest being confirmed, the Indian authorities are likely to pitch for his extradition with Senegalese counterparts.
Pujari, who has worked with several dons of the Mumbai-origin underworld, launched his own splinter group nearly two decades ago. He has been charged in dozens of extortions and supari murders cases, registered in various parts of the nation.
Earlier in the month, the Mumbai Police cracked down on two of his top henchmen, William Rodricks and Aakash Shetty. They have been arrested after complaints of extortion were registered by the police. The stringent provisions of MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) has been imposed against them.
Non-bailable warrants in several courts in India were issued against Pujari over the last 15 years. Till now, he was believed to be hiding in Australia and operating his underworld racket through henchmen in Mumbai and adjoining regions.
He was once associated with Chhota Rajan, who is currently under arrest after being extradited from Indonesia in November 2015. Both Pujari and Rajan worked along with Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company till the mid-1990s. In 2000, they parted ways after an Dawood’s men attempted the assassination of Rajan in Bangkok.
Pujari had last made headlines following the students’ agitation in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He had threatened to eliminate all “anti-national voices”, including the supreme leader of Kashmiri separatist conglomerate Hurriyat, Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
