Fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari brought to Bengaluru from Senegal

Bengaluru: Fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari, who is wanted in numerous crimes including murder and extortion, was brought to Bengaluru in the early hours of Monday from Senegal via France, the police said.

"Yes, we have brought him," a police officer told PTI requesting anonymity.

The gangster was nabbed in South Africa in a joint operation by the SA police and Senegal security agencies and was later extradited to Senegal, said police sources.

On learning about his arrest in Senegal, a team of police officers, including additional director general of police Amar Kumar Pandey and Bengaluru joint police commissioner Sandeep Patil went to Senegal to bring him.

The team completed the extradition process and finally brought him to Bengaluru by an Air France flight.

Ravi Poojari is wanted in as many as 70 criminal cases in Karnataka alone. He is wanted in cases of extortion and murder and was active in the Mumbai underworld. He was part of the Dawood gang and later is said to have worked with Chota Rajan for some time. Claiming to be an enemy of Dawood, Poojari reportedly finished off all his associates and anti-India elements in the country. His men were involved in a shootout on the Shabanam Developers office in Bengaluru in which a woman staffer was killed.

He is also said have been involved in the shootout case of Shahid Azmi, an advocate from Mumbai. There are cases against him in Kerala, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.

The don was arrested by the Senegal authorities last year and the India police tried their best to catch hold of him but failed as a local court there granted him bail.

The gangster then jumped bail and fled Senegal and holed up in South Africa, said police sources.

The gangster was allegedly involved in many heinous crimes and had set up his network in Karnataka.