Mumbai police arrested three members of Ravi Pujari gang in connection with incident of firing at a hotel in Vile Parle, and the probe revealed that they were also involved in an attack on a corporator in Gujarat, an official said.
Suresh Pujari alias Suresh Anna (54), Ramesh Kitta Pujari (49) and Mrityunjay Das (34) were arrested by the anti-extortion cell (AEC) of crime branch.
Fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari and one of his gang members were directly in touch with the arrested men, police said.
On October 21, 2016, two men approached the manager of a hotel in Vile Parle and asked him to call Ravi Pujari on an international number provided by them, and fired a round at him before fleeing, though no one was injured. The hotel owner also got extortion call from a person identifying himself to be Ravi Pujari.
AEC arrested Suresh Pujari and Ramesh Kitta Pujari from western suburbs, and their interrogation led to Mrityunjay Das who had fired the round, police said.
The arrested men revealed that they were involved in an incident where a corporator was shot at at Borsad in Aanand district of Gujarat, said deputy commissioner of police (crime) Vinay Rathod.
Suresh Pujari was involved in a murder in 1993 and had served ten years in prison in a case of smuggling, whereas Ramesh, a driver by profession, had been arrested for a theft in 1995, and was involved in a 2002 petrol pump robbery and also a diamond robbery in Surat, the DCP said.
Das was involved in a Rs. 45 lakh robbery in 2012 and had several other cases registered against him, DCP Rathod added.
