Gangster Prasad Pujari was caught from China and brought to India

Mumbai: Gangster Prasad Pujari, involved in many serious crimes including murder, extortion, kidnapping, was deported from China and arrested in the early hours of Saturday and brought to India. Mumbai Police arrested Pujari and conducted further investigation, the officer said.

Pujari alias Subhash Vitthal Pujari alias Siddharth Shetty alias Sidhu alias Johnny was earlier associated with Kumar Pillai and Chhota Rajan gang.

He was living in China because there was an Interpol Red Corner Notice against him. He was arrested there last year. The Crime Branch team of Mumbai Police was continuously trying to bring Pujari back to the country.

A Red Corner Notice alerts all INTERPOL member states about an absconding suspect. In this country, whoever is found accused is arrested.

Pujari is allegedly involved in eight serious cases like firing, extortion, murder in Mumbai.

The priest, a resident of Tagore Nagar in Vikhroli, had fled the country several years ago. He committed serious crimes targeting many builders and businessmen in East Mumbai.

Pujari's name came up in the December 2019 case of firing on Shiv Sena leader Chandrakant Jadhav, resident of Vikhroli area. He was arrested by authorities in Hong Kong in February 2023.

Based on information received from Interpol, Pujari was arrested in Hong Kong in March last year on charges of possessing a fake passport. He was on a flight from Hong Kong to Shenzhen (a city in China). When the priest was caught, he married a Chinese woman. He lived in Shenzhen with his wife and a child, the official said.

In 2020, the crime branch had arrested Pujari's mother Indira in a case of demanding extortion from a builder in Vikhroli. Action was taken against the builder under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) for demanding extortion money of Rs 10 lakh from him.

Pujari used to extort money from businessmen and celebrities using international numbers and issued death threats to leading film directors, producers, Bollywood actors. His gang was active in Mumbai Thane, Navi Mumbai.

After being deported from China, he was brought to India at around 1 am on Saturday night. After this, Mumbai Police arrested him under Section 307, 120-B, MCOCA at Vikhroli Police Station and the Anti Extortion Wing of the Crime Branch took him into custody.