Mangaluru: The Karnataka police could finally lay its hands on underworld element Ravi Pujari after making several attends to nab him over the last 25 years.
Gangster Ravi Suliya Pujari (51) was arrested in the west African country of Senegal and was brought to Bengaluru on Monday.
Pujari’s journey from being one of the most wanted criminal in India to a respected philanthropist in Senegal itself is fascinating.
Pujari was living in Senegal under an identity of Anthony Fernandes and had been running chain of restaurant named ‘Namaste India’.
He had nine restaurants running under this brand and as per Indian Express, Pujari did a lot of social work.
“He provided drinking water pumps in various rural areas affected by water scarcity. During Navratri, he would give clothes to the poor people. He was like a philanthropist in Senegal. He even featured in newspapers for his charity,” Amar Kumar Pandey, Additional Director-General of Police (Karnataka) is quoted in Indian Express.
Ravi Pujari was born in Malpe in Udupi district in Karnataka.
A school dropout, he left to Mumbai and started a tea stall in Andheri. While involving himself in petty crime in Dombivali, he was noticed by Don Chhota Rajan in 1980, when the former killed rival Bala Zalte.
Pujari joined Rajan and largely walked on his footsteps to become the ‘Hindu Don’ or the ‘Patriotic Don’.
When Rajan and Dawood split over the 1993 Mumbai blast, Pujari sided with Rajan and subsequently Pujari formed his own gang in 2000.
In India, Pujari has over 200 criminal cases against him, including of murder, extortion and other crimes.
