A Mumbai Police team on Saturday successfully ensured the deportation of gangster Prasad Pujari alias Subhash Vitthal from China to Mumbai after 20 years, and will question him in several cases, including for murder. He was linked to the Chhota Rajan gang, where he worked as a henchman.
Pujari (44) has been an absconding accused for the last 20 years and was staying in China with his wife. The crime branch and Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC), have been on his trail for some years now.
Hailing originally from Karnataka’s Udupi, Pujari lived in Vashi in Navi Mumbai and Mumbai’s Vikhroli with his parents and other family members.
According to the police, Pujari began working initially with the Kumar Pillai gang and later joined Chhota Rajan’s gang briefly before moving on to start his own gang. He has also been named in the MCOC (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime) Act.
“Pujari was wanted in several different criminal cases, but our team arrested him and brought him to Mumbai International Airport in the morning from China on deportation. There are eight cases against him, five by the AEC and three by the crime branch. Amongst these, two include murder, attempt to murder, extortion and firing by him and his gang members,” said Lakhmi Gautam, Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Police (crime branch).
“We are yet to probe and interrogate him on further details and other cases, for which we have received a 14-day police custody remand. He threatened to kill and even demanded ransom to create terror and establish control in society. He had threatened politicians, businessmen and builders in the Thane and Navi Mumbai belt. Even Bollywood celebrities were targeted,” he added.
He said a red corner notice was issued against Pujari after he left India in 2005. A red corner notice is issued for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence.
The deportation came after a case was filed against him in April last year for threatening a complainant and asking him to withdraw the case or face consequences. The case filed by anti-extortion officials followed a firing case in December 2019 in Mumbai’s Vikhroli. He was released on bail after being arrested in 2004.
“Pujari and ten other accomplices, including his mother, were involved in a firing conspiracy in December 2019. The process to get him back was going on for more than 10 months. It was a joint cooperation of all the agencies,” Gautam said.
Source Agencies
