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Mumbai: An official said that Mumbai Crime Branch officials brought most wanted gangster Prasad Pujari from China to Mumbai on Friday. Pujari, wanted in several murder and extortion cases, including the 2020 extortion case involving a Mumbai-based builder, was arrested in Hong Kong last year on Interpol’s notice.
In 2020, the Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police had arrested Indira Vithal Pujari, Prasad Pujari’s mother, in connection with the same extortion case. According to the police, Indira (62) and two others had been accused of demanding a ransom of Rs 10 lakh from a Mumbai-based builder. The two accused who were arrested had been identified as Sunil Angane (56) and Sukesh Kumar (28).
A case had been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime (MCOC) Act. Pujari, a former associate of deported gangster Kumar Pillai, had been evading authorities since 2010. His extradition from China was a long-pending endeavor of the Mumbai Police, finally coming to fruition after China approved the extradition last year.
To escape the grip of Indian agencies, Pujari married a Chinese woman, but after hard work by the investigating agencies, he was deported from China. His involvement in various criminal activities, including the firing case on Shiv Sena worker Chandrakant Jadhav in 2019, had made him a high-profile target for law enforcement.
