Woman suspected to be wife of gangster Pujari detained

 

Mumbai, Dec 23, 2014, (PTI): Immigration authorities at the international airport here detained a woman and her son suspecting them to be the wife and the son of fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari, police said today.

 

Sridevi Santosh Pujari was intercepted as a Look-out Circular (LOC) with the same name had been issued by Mangalore Police in an extortion case filed in 2012. She was accompanied by her son Aryan and they were scheduled to take a flight to Abu Dhabi last night, they said.

 

LOC is usually issued to trace absconding criminals.

 

As per Mangalore Police records, Ravi Pujari and his wife Sridevi are wanted in the case. Incidentally, Ravi Pujari’s son’s name is also Aryan.

 

"Immigration authorities intercepted the lady and her son saying an LOC was issued against her. Subsequently, Mangalore Police were alerted. The duo was scheduled to take a flight to Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, the immigration authorities handed them over to the Sahar Airport Police here," said a police officer.

 

Mangalore Police have arrived here and are questioning the woman to establish her identity, police sources said.

 

However, Mumbai Crime Branch claimed it was a case of mistaken identity and the detained woman is not the wife of the overseas-based underworld don, who was recently in news for plotting to target Bollywood personalities.

 

The duo is residents of suburban Borivali and a retired Mumbai Police officer, who is their neighbour, also said the woman and her son were no way related to the gangster, they said.

 

According to Mumbai Police records, Ravi Pujari’s wife’s name is Padma, who was arrested in a fake passport case in 2005. She was released on bail after a month, but she fled the country within six months by obtaining another passport in the name of Sridevi Santosh Pujari.