Fugitive gangster Pujari held in SA, govt trying for deportation

Ahmed.Ali@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:
Fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari, who had jumped bail and gone missing after being arrested in Senegal in January last year, was rearrested from South Africa early on Saturday, sources said.

The arrest was made from a distant village in South Africa by the Senegal authorities in a joint operation with India’s Research and Analysis Wing and Mangaluru police, sources in the know said.

News of the fresh arrest has apparently been kept under wraps as the Indian government wants to get him back without undergoing the formalities they had to go through last year. Indian authorities are hoping deportation would be an easier option, sources said.

They added that if all goes well, Pujari would be brought to India on Sunday or by Monday morning, but it is not clear if he will be taken to Mumbai, Mangaluru or New Delhi.

Sources said senior officials from the Union home ministry and foreign affairs ministry had been coordinating with Senegal authorities to get Pujari deported at the earliest instead of pushing for an extradition, which would be a time-consuming process.

Pujari tracked down in SA after he fled Senegal

One possible complication could be that if an extradition is sought, Pujari has been living under the assumed name of Anthony Fernandes and claimed to be a Burkina Faso citizen. An offence registered against him abroad would also be a hindrance in that case, and it is suspected that he had got a cheating case registered against himself last year to avoid deportation as usually a criminal is tried for an offence committed in the country where he is held before being sent back.

Pujari, who started off as a Chhota Rajan aide, has over 200 offences of murder and extortion against him. Last year he was held in the cheating case by Senegal authorities. He managed to procure bail and went missing. TOI had reported in its June 9, 2019 edition that he had jumped bail and fled Senegal. Sources said ever since he had gone missing, he had taken shelter in a tribal village in Kenya. However, Indian intelligence agencies managed to track him down in SA after tha.

Pujari has an Interpol red corner notice issued against him and among the cases registered against him in India are those for issuing threats to Bollywood stars and a prominent industrialist.