Mumbai hotel firing: 3 Ravi Pujari gang members held for firing, extortion

Ravi Pujari

The police on Monday arrested three members of the Ravi Pujari gang in connection with firing at a Vile Parle hotel. Probe revealed they were also involved in an attack on a corporator in Gujarat, an officer said.

Also read - Firing at Vile Parle hotel: Shooter was enraged at staffer for not knowing Ravi Pujari

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.

Ravi Pujari and one of his gang members were directly in touch with the arrested men, the police said.

The shootout
On October 21, 2016, two men approached the hotel manager and asked him to call Pujari on an international number given by them, and fired a round at him before fleeing; no one was injured. The hotel owner also got an extortion call from a person identifying himself as Ravi Pujari.

AEC arrested Suresh and Ramesh from the western suburbs; their interrogation led to Das, the police said.

Also read: Masked men open fire at Hotel Gajalee in Mumbai

The men said that they were involved in an incident where a corporator was shot at in Borsad, Gujarat, said deputy commissioner of police (crime) Vinay Rathod.

History-sheeters
Suresh was involved in a murder in 1993 and had served 10 years in prison for smuggling, whereas Ramesh, a driver, 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, Rathod added.