Gangster Ravi Pujari arrested in South Africa, extradited

Bengaluru, Feb 23: Fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari has been arrested in South Africa and being brought to India by a team of officials, including senior IPS officers from Karnataka, a top police official said on Sunday.

Pujari, wanted in many cases including extortion and murder in different parts of the country, including Karnataka, and been on the run for over 15 years, was deported to Senegal in West Africa following his arrest and later extradited.

He had jumped bail in Senegal last year after being arrested there. (We are) coming with him from Senegal.

Now in Paris. (We are) coming by Air France and (would be) there (in India) by midnight, the police official, part of the team, told PTI.

Pujari, who hails from Karnataka, was likely to be brought here by Monday morning, police sources said.

The National Investigation Agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Research and Analysis Wing would join the investigation, the sources said.

According to police, the gangster, facing over 200 cases including murder and extortion, was arrested in January last year by the Senegal authorities after remaining elusive.

Despite efforts of Indian officials to get him extradited then, a local court had granted him bail and Pujari later fled to South Africa. Police sources on Sunday said the gangster was nabbed from a village in a joint operation by the South African and Senegal police.

After he was brought to Senegal, the Indian team completed extradition formalities, they added. Pujari was initially associated with gangster Chhota Rajan, but he had also worked for fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.