Thane police bring gangster Ravi Pujari from Bengaluru jail in 2017 extortion case

In 2019, Pujari was deported to India from Senegal after being detained by local authorities. Since then, he has been lodged in a Bengaluru prison while multiple agencies across the country pursued cases against him

THANE: The Anti-Extortion Cell of the Thane police on Tuesday took custody of underworld gangster Ravi Pujari, 57, from a Bengaluru prison in connection with a 2017 extortion case registered at Kapurbawdi police station. He was produced before a special MCOCA court in Thane on Wednesday, which remanded him to police custody till March 27.

Thane police bring gangster Ravi Pujari from Bengaluru jail in 2017 extortion case

Pujari, whose full name is Raviprakash Sulayya Pujari, is a native of Udupi in Karnataka and has long been known to law enforcement agencies as an international fugitive linked to extortion rackets targeting businessmen and politicians. For several years, he allegedly ran his operations from foreign locations, prompting Indian authorities to secure a Red Corner Notice through Interpol.

In 2019, Pujari was deported to India from Senegal after being detained by local authorities. Since then, he has been lodged in a Bengaluru prison while multiple agencies across the country pursued cases against him.

According to Thane police officials, Pujari is wanted in at least six extortion cases registered in the city. Investigators say his network allegedly targeted real estate developers, businessmen and political figures, issuing threats and demanding large sums of money. Some of the corporators who allegedly received threats at the time have since risen to senior ministerial positions in the state government.

The case for which he has now been brought to Thane dates back to 2017. Police said Pujari allegedly demanded ₹3 crore from a Thane-based real estate developer. When the developer refused to pay, two of Pujari’s associates allegedly opened fire outside his office in a bid to intimidate him.

While the two assailants were arrested soon after the firing incident, Pujari remained out of reach of investigators as he was operating from abroad at the time.

Following the incident, Kapurbawdi police registered a case against him under sections 385 (putting a person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion), 387 (putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt to commit extortion), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, along with relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), 1999.

Assistant commissioner of police Vinay Ghorpade, who is leading the probe, said investigators plan to question Pujari in several other pending cases.

“There are six extortion cases registered against him in Thane. We have taken his custody from the Bengaluru jail in connection with the 2017 Kapurbawdi case. Now that he is in our custody, we will question him simultaneously in the remaining five cases as well,” Ghorpade said.