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Gangster Suresh Pujari, wanted in several extortion cases in Mumbai region and Karnataka who was on the run for over 15 years, has been deported to India, a senior police official said on Wednesday.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad on Wednesday took custody of Pujari in Delhi and brought him to Mumbai in connection with cases registered against him in Thane city, an official said.
The gangster was later produced before a Thane court which remanded him in ATS custody till December 25 in connection with an extortion case.
Pujari, wanted in extortion cases in Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan, Ulhasnagar and Dombivli near Mumbai, was brought back to India late Tuesday night after he was arrested and deported from the Philippines.
Intelligence Bureau and Central Bureau of Investigation officials took his custody after he landed at Delhi airport, the official said.
Later, an ATS release said Pujari was under detention in the Philippines since the last two months and was arrested by Maharashtra ATS at about 2 am on Wednesday (after being deported).
He was brought to Mumbai in a commercial flight at about 9 am, the release said, adding "It was a classified operation which went off smoothly."
The gangster had a red corner notice) issued against him on December 20, 2016, which was valid till December 19, 2021, it added.
Two international SIM cards were recovered from Pujari at the time of his arrest, the release said.
An ATS team, led by DCP Rajkumar Shinde, went to Delhi to take Pujari's custody on Tuesday evening. He was brought to Mumbai on Wednesday morning by a flight, the official said.
All the cases registered against Pujari in Thane city were transferred to the Maharashtra ATS on orders of the state Director General of Police's office, he said.
Accordingly, these cases will be investigated by the ATS, he said.
After he was brought to Mumbai, Pujari was produced before Thane's chief judicial magistrate Rajendra J Tambe in connection with a case of extortion registered at a police station in Kalyan, and the ATS sought his remand for 14 days.
However, the CJM remanded him in ATS custody for 10 days till December 25, said Anita Supare, assistant public prosecutor.
The release said the ATS on December 11 took over investigation of the extortion case registered at the Mahatma Phule Chowk Police Station at Kalyan in Thane district.
The complainant in the case had alleged that the gangster had made threat calls to him from abroad to extort money by "putting him under fear of death", the release said.
After the Maharashtra ATS, the Mumbai police will take Pujari's custody in connection with the cases registered against him in the Maharashtra capital, he said.
Mumbai and Thane police had issued red-corner notices against Pujari in 2017 and 2018, respectively after several extortion cases were lodged against him.
A red corner notice is a kind of international arrest warrant for fugitives where Interpol requests its member countries to arrest or detain them.
Pujari, who was on the run for over 15 years, was nabbed in the Philippines in October, the official said.
Altogether 23 extortion cases have been registered against him in Thane, he said.
He was a close relative of gangster Ravi Pujari but separated from him in 2007.
He then fled abroad.
Early in his career in crime, he had worked with underworld don Chhota Rajan and Ravi Pujari and later formed his own gang, the official said.