Mumbai police nab gangster Ravi Pujari’s 71-year-old hawala operator

Mumbai police recovered Rs7 lakh in cash and five mobile phones from the accused

The Mumbai crime branch’s anti-extortion cell arrested a 71-year-old man on Wednesday, for allegedly working as a hawala operator for gangster Ravi Pujari.

Crime branch officials suspect the man, Ramesh alias Dilip Israni, worked for Pujari (pictured) for the past decade. (HT File)

Crime branch officials suspect the man, Ramesh alias Dilip Israni, worked for Pujari for the past decade. Ramesh is a Ghatkopar resident, and owns an office in Swadeshi Market, Kalbadevi.

Police recovered Rs7 lakh in cash and five mobile phones from him. They said his job was to take money from the other accused and send it to his handler in Dubai via a hawala network. The handler would then transfer the cash to Pujari.

Ramesh was produced before a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999, court, which remanded him in police custody till December 8.

This is the fifth arrest in the case. Earlier this month, the AEC arrested Pujari’s associate, Kamal Singh Rajput alias Kamruddin Patel.

Patel, a Goregaon (East) resident, was associated with Pujari for the past few years. He handled the gangster’s finances, said police. Patel was nabbed after he threatened a real estate consultant, ordering him to settle a dispute that had arisen in connection with a slum rehabilitation project.

Vikrant Vardani, 36, Daya Jadhav, 30, and Dashrat Shinde, 50, were arrested on October 30 following a complaint by the consultant. The crime branch invoked charges of stringent MCOCA against all four accused.