Prasad Pujari, the gangster, was extradited from China and appeared in court, where he was remanded to 14-day police custody. According to police sources, Pujari was engaged in the trade of mobile accessories in China.
Gangster Pujari was brought to Mumbai airport in the early hours of Saturday after which he was arrested. Mumbai Crime Branch's Joint Commissioner Lakhmi Gautam said that the accused Prasad Pujari alias Subhash Vitthal Pujari is originally from Udupi in Karnataka and his family is living in Vikhroli and Vashi in Navi Mumbai.
Pujari's criminal background
Pujari was associated with Kumar Pillai gang and then Chhota Rajan's gang and later he formed his own gang. There are a total of 8 cases against him in Mumbai, out of which 4 are of MCOCA. Mumbai Police has filed chargesheet in 6 cases. A case has been registered against Gangster Pujari in 2005 for threatening several Mumbai ministers, people associated with the film industry and many others for extortion. In 2012, a Red Corner Notice was issued against him.
After bringing the accused to Mumbai, he has been arrested in the case registered in the firing case that took place in Vikhroli in the year 2019.Prasad Pujari's name came up in the firing case on Chandrakant Jadhav, a Shiv Sena worker living in Vikhroli area. This firing was done on 19 December 2019. However, in that firing, the bullet narrowly missed Jadhav. A total of 8 accused were arrested in this case, in which his mother was also arrested by the crime branch.
Pujari's China stay
Prasad Pujari was one of the special henchmen of famous gangster Kumar Pillai. Pillai had started a business of exporting mobile accessories from China which was run by Pujari.According to police records, Pujari was absconding since 2005 and was detained last year with the help of Interpol. Mumbai Police sources said that in March 2008, Prasad Pujari had got a Temporary Residence Visa in China which expired in March 2012.
Pujari had gone there on a visit visa which had expired in May 2008. According to the information, the Pujari lives in Luohu district of China. Gangster Prasad Pujari, wanted in several cases of extortion, murder and attempt to murder in India, was caught by Chinese authorities in Hong Kong in February 2023. He was caught on fake passport charges following a tip-off from Interpol when he was about to board a flight from Hong Kong to Shenzhen.
Lakhmi Gautam told that the Crime Branch team was working on this case since Pujari was caught in China in February 2023.According to investigating agencies, Pujari had even married a Chinese woman to save himself, and according to sources he also has a 4-year-old son.
