The Indian criminals have been used to find safe heavens in foreign shores while committing horrific crime in India . The D Company operatives, Chota Rajan , Abu Salem , Ràvi Pujari were some of the well known names . Abu and Rajan since arrested and extradited to India are serving sentences in prison .
Arresting and extraditing them back, has always been a nightmare for the police. Abu was intercepted and arrested by Portugal police on a tip off by D company and Rajan raised suspicion about his own identity at immigration desk which led to his apprehension in Bali .
It was the late 1980s, Ravi Pujari was an extortionist whose name sent shivers down the spine of the business magnets and Bollywood biggies. His territory spread from Gujarat, Kerala , Delhi , Karnataka and finally to Maharashtra specially Mumbai. He was threatening almost everyone including actors and politicians. Despite complaints he roamed free.
The elusive gangster stayed far away from the law enforcement agencies’ imaginations. He would take shelters in countries like Australia, South Africa, Sierra Leone , Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia , Canada, Uganda, Nepal , Burkina Faso and so many other unthinkable locations.
But IPS officer, Dr. Amar Kumar Pandey put a full-stop to it all. The 1989 batch officer from Karnataka cadre single handedly located, identified, arrested and extradited Ràvi Pujari in 2020. Pujari had remained a fugitive for 26 years.
Dr. Pandey has covered all the details of this operation in his book “A Don’s Nemesis”, which was recently launched by Mumbai Police Commissioner Mr Vivek Phansalkar. It will soon be made into a film.
During a conversation with Indian Masterminds, Dr. Pandey who retired as Director General of Police (Karnataka) shared details of the unprecedented chase that led to Pujari’s arrest.
FIRST ENCOUNTER
Pujari, who was wanted across the country in more than 200 heinous cases including murders , shoot outs and extorting money from builders , industrial houses and Bollywood celebrities since 1994 unchecked was arrested in 2019 and brought back to India in 2020. His extradition took nearly a year after his arrest as there is no extradition treaty between Senegal and India and Pujari approached the courts in Senegal against the extradition order . But Dr. Pandey convinced the Senegal authorities and the Honourable Senegalese Supreme Court by providing every documented detail of Pujari’s criminal acts in India
Recalling his first encounter with Pujari, Dr. Pandey said, “The Senegal Police Commandos brought Pujari to the Dakar airport heavily escorted in a prison van from the Senegal Central High Security Prison. “I saw a little bulky man dressed in a loose three-quarter pant, oversized T-shirt with his hands cuffed and tied and covered with a towel.”
Pujari was made to sit outside a special purpose room as Dr. Pandey completed the formalities related to extradition to bring the fugitive back. “I asked if he was alright. Was he hungry? He said yes. I got him something to eat after due diligence with the Senegal authorities escorting him,” the officer narrated. “He wanted to know if we had come from Delhi. I told him that we were taking him home to Bangalore,” said the officer.
PHILANTHROPY HURDLE
Wanted by police in India , Ravi Pujari under a new identity of Anthony Fernandes , was a respected hotelier and businessman in the West African nation of Burkina Faso where he did a lot of charity — providing borewell for drinking water and books and writing materials to poor school children. So much so that the Burkina Faso government had recognised his social work . He had taken Burkina Faso citizenship .
The IPS who has caught many criminals during his career, including ISIS twitter propgandist Mehndi Mashoor and Bananje Raja – a Karnataka fugitive for over a decade and half , considers Pujari’s arrest as a special one for the sheer challenge due to the scale of uncertainties.
MOVIE TIME
Director Mr. Umesh Shukla of “Oh My God” and “102 Not Out” fame has announced the adaptation of “ A Don’s Nemesis “ into a movie. “The filmmaker’s decision to make a film on my book “A Don’s Nemesis” of course makes me happy, just like any author would be . I am sure a respected film maker like Mr Shukla would do justice to the subject and retain its purity while entertaining people,” says Dr. Pandey. He says he has no role in the film beyond being the author of the book.
