Since Chhota Rajan returned to Indian soil he is released in many cases and many are still pending against him. Politically connected and having right-wing ideologies many suspects he is well planned. His henchman Pujari has more than 200 cases registered across the country including 97 cases in Karnataka alone. He was arrested in Senegal in West Africa in January 2019 but he jumped bail and fled to South Africa, where he was allegedly involved in drug trafficking and extortion rackets. Pujari was hiding under the identity of Anthony Fernandes, a Burkina Faso passport holder and was located in a remote village in South Africa. On a tip-off from India’s external intelligence agency, the Senegal police flew to South Africa and arrested the 52-year-old gangster.
Ravi Shulya Pujari was born in Udupi, Karnataka. He has two brothers and one sister. He is a father of two daughters and one son. He came to Mumbai in his teenage and started working in Restaurant. He remained a small-time criminal till he killed rival Bala Zalte and he made his identity in the Underworld. He started his unlawful activities at Andheri, Mumbai. Those days Dawood and Chota Rajan gangs were very active in Mumbai. Chota Rajan got impressed with this newcomer and gave him entry into his gang. Rajan mentored Ravi in the underworld syndicate. Soon he became the right-hand person to Rajan.
In the late 1990s, Ravi Pujari moved to Dubai to set up his own business. He earned money through extortion of real estate builders, the owner of the hotel etc. In the mid-1990s, his men shot Om Prakash Kukreja of Kukreja builders in his Chamber office. Eight years later, a Navi Mumbai builder, Suresh Wadhwa, escaped an assassination attempt by ducking under his office desk. When Chhota Rajan split with Dawood Ibrahim after the March 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai, Guru Satam and Ravi Poojari cast their share with him. The trio set up a base in South East Asia and continued their operations. While Rajan relocated to Kuala Lumpur, where a powerful local mafia protected him, Satam parked himself in Hong Kong and Poojari travelled extensively in South East Asia supervising the gang’s operations. Satam and Poojari have trusted aides of Rajan, until a futile attack was made on Rajan’s life in Bangkok by a team sent by Karachi-based Chhota Shakeel, Dawood’s right-hand-man, in September 2000.
After the attack, Chhota Rajan was suspecting the involvement of his own people. Rajan’s sharpshooter Rohit Verma, who was killed in Bangkok created a misunderstanding between Rajan, Guru Satam and Ravi Poojari. Rohit Verma was a small-time robber raised as a sharpshooter and managed to be the right hand of Rajan. Angry Rajan got his own people and his associates like Vinod Shetty and Mohan Kotian brutally murdered at Panvel and Bangalore respectively by Rajan’s shooters in India. Unable to convince Rajan about their loyalty, Guru Satam and Ravi too got separated and set up their own gangs and they all were operating from different world capitals.
Thereafter, Rajan became less active and his wife was allegedly doing extortion on behalf, Sujata Nikhalje got arrested by Chembur cops in several such cases. Devastated Rajan got busy bailing out his wife. His daughters were at the peak of their studies. Don had to tame down in such situations around him, moreover, underworld activities in Mumbai became difficult. His younger brother Vijay Nikhalje got into politics and during 2014; he rendered his support to BJP. There was a rumour that because of this support Chhota Rajan was tactically brought to India since he returned to his family having holiday time with him. He has been provided with a television in his cell, he plays loud music on it, which has been troubling for many inmates. He is also provided with all sorts of facilities from food to clothing, his family frequently visits him. Chotta Rajan’s deportation and arrest was a big political plot. Rajan, 57, is facing more than 70 criminal charges. The Indonesian police in Bali arrested him on October 25, 2015.
Dawood, who is believed to be out of Karachi in Pakistan and is sheltered by the country’s security forces round-the-clock, is likely to be succeeded by one of his brothers and Anees Ahmed is the front-runner all the control in his own hand. Dawood’s trusted lieutenant Chhota Shakeel – often referred to as the gang CEO – has many connections in India. Dawood made his empire tech-savvy. His return to India seems to be very difficult as he is one of Pakistan’s richest persons and a mastermind in Pakistan’s act of creating unrest in India. Ravi Poojari always maintained that his mission is to eliminate both Dawood and Chhota Shakeel.
Ravi Pujari’s wife the Padma and his 24-year-old son were detained at Mumbai international airport, the duo was deported to India. The Padma was on a red corner notice. Former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma and now a Shiv Sena worker had arrested the Padma in 2005 in a fake passport case. The Padma had forged documents to obtain her passport and those of her two daughters. She was released on bail after a month, but she fled the country within six months by secretly obtaining another passport from Mangalore in the name of Sridevi Pujari. Since then, a lookout notice was issued against her. The Padma got bailed out again and she and her kids are already having their life on Indian soil, her husband Ravi Pujari who is known as a patriot gangster. Both the families of Rajan and Ravi will have new life on their soil. Now it is interesting to see who and when and how Dawood would be brought back to India.
