Senegal clears prosecution of gangster Ravi Pujari, ex-Chhota Rajan aide, in 9 more cases

He had relocated Dakar in Senegal with his wife and three children, all of whom had adopted Christian identities

MUMBAI: In a significant breakthrough for Mumbai Police, the government of Senegal has granted permission to prosecute dreaded gangster Raviprakash Sulya Pujari, better known in Mumbai’s underworld as Ravi Pujari, in nine additional cases, including three under the stringent MCOCA.

Senegal clears prosecution of gangster Ravi Pujari in nine more cases

The 56-year-old don, who is currently lodged in a Bengaluru jail, was extradited from the West African nation in February 2020. Under the terms of his extradition, India was initially allowed to try him in only ten of the 52 criminal cases registered against him in Maharashtra, most of them in Mumbai. Now, the new approval paves the way for police to pursue more charges linked to his sprawling extortion and murder network.

“We had sought Senegal’s permission through the Ministry of External Affairs and the CBI’s Interpol branch. After a detailed proposal listing the pending cases, we have finally received their nod to prosecute him in nine more, including three under MCOCA,” said a senior crime branch officer.

Pujari’s criminal footprint extends far beyond Maharashtra — with dozens of cases in Bengaluru, Mangaluru, and even Delhi for murder, extortion, and attempt to murder.

A former Chhota Rajan aide, Pujari was arrested in 2019 from Dakar, Senegal’s capital, where he lived a double life as Anthony Fernandes, a supposed businessman carrying a Burkina Faso passport. He had relocated there with his wife and three children, all of whom had adopted Christian identities.

His Mumbai dossier reads like a page from the city’s bloodied underworld history. He has been booked in the murder of builder Om Prakash Kukreja on September 18, 1995; the killing of two associates of builder Sudhakar Shetty, and attempted murder cases involving filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, builder Suresh Wadhwa, and advocate Majeed Memon.

He is also accused of making extortion threats to Bollywood’s biggest stars, including Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Karan Johar, Rakesh Roshan, and Karim Morani.

In a confession recorded in Mumbai in March 2021, Pujari admitted to running his extortion racket from Dakar, using a mobile calling app to contact “foot soldiers” in India. His close aide Yusuf Bachkana, currently in a Karnataka jail, helped him gather personal details of potential targets — mainly builders, hoteliers, and businessmen.

Pujari claimed he operated through an international web of henchmen — including Shekhar Pujari from Malaysia and Jalal, the son of a Bandra bakery owner who managed operations from Iran.

Born in Malpe, a coastal town in Karnataka’s Udupi district, Pujari’s rise in Mumbai’s gangland began at 18. He caught the attention of local don Shrikant “Mama” Desai after he thrashed a Chhota Rajan gang member in Marol, Andheri. Soon, he was collecting “hafta” from courier operators near Sahar Cargo — when Dawood Ibrahim, Sharad Shetty, and Chhota Rajan still ran the city together.

After Mama’s encounter killing in 1993, Pujari avenged him by eliminating rival Bala Zalte — marking his first major hit. As cases piled up, he fled to Kathmandu, later moving through Hong Kong, Bangkok, Uganda, South Africa, and finally Dakar, where he settled in 2014.

Even in exile, he kept his empire alive. By 2000, Pujari was using Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology to issue threats to Mumbai’s elite — builders, jewellers, and hoteliers — keeping his shadow alive in the city’s fearscape long after he had vanished.