Overview
- Thane Police’s Anti-Extortion Cell took Ravi Pujari from Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara jail and produced him before a Special MCOCA Court, which remanded him to police custody until March 27.
- The case traces back to a 2017 threat and shooting outside a developer’s office in Thane after an extortion demand, with multiple associates previously arrested.
- Investigators have booked offences under IPC provisions for extortion and criminal conspiracy, alongside sections of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.
- Pujari was detained in Senegal in 2019 following an Interpol Red Corner Notice and was brought to India in 2020 before being lodged in a Bengaluru prison.
- Authorities obtained permission last year to try additional cases beyond the initial post-extradition set, enabling this custody transfer, and ACP Vinay Ghorpade is leading the ongoing probe.