Mumbai: In a major breakthrough, Mumbai Crime Branch officials have successfully extradited wanted gangster and chief of the Kumar Pillai Gang, Prasad Pujari from China. Pujari, wanted in several murder and extortion cases, was arrested in Hong Kong last year. He had fled from India in 2005.
Sources said that Pujari was brought to India from China early Saturday morning. The gangster was taken into custody by Mumbai police at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport between 2.00 am and 2.30 am soon after he landed at the airport, informed Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalavade.
The Mumbai Police had initiated the paperwork with the Chinese officials over Pujari's extradition. The gangster’s extradition is seen as a major success for the Mumbai Police as he was wanted in more than 15 criminal cases including extortion, murder and attempted murder registered in Mumbai and Thane districts.
While hiding in China, Prasad Pujari had married a Chinese woman for his safety and was staying in Luohu District of Shenzhen City. Prasad also has a four-year-old son from his Chinese wife. After fleeing to China, Pujari was given a temporary visa for his stay in the country in March 2008, which expired in March 2012. In 2020, the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested gangster’s mother Indira Vithal Pujari in connection with an 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's name had surfaced in the attack on Shiv Sena worker Chandrakant Jadhav on December 19, 2019, in Vikhroli area. Jadhav was grazed by the bullet and survived the attack.
Pujari was detained by Chinese authorities from Hong Kong in March 2023.
