3 Ravi Pujari men held for demanding Rs2 crore from Govandi businessman

The city crime branch sleuths have arrested three suspected members of the Ravi Pujari gang on the charge of threatening a businessman from Govandi and demanding Rs 2 crore from him. The police have seized a country-made pistol, one live cartridge, Rs 1 lakh, six mobile phones and 26 SIM cards from the trio.

The arrested men have been identified as Vijay Krishna Rao, Mahesh Bapu Lohar and Sudhakar Kalaram Fuge. Rao, a Navi Mumbai resident, is believed to be a close associate of Pujari and faces several cases, including attempt to murder and extortion.

According to the police, the complainant runs a civil contract and earth work business and has his office in Govandi. On August 26, he received a phone call from an unknown person.

"The caller claimed to be an associate of Pujari and said that the gangster was in need of Rs 2 crore. He ordered the complainant to arrange for the money as soon as possible or else his game would be over. The man continued to receive extortion calls for the next two days," said a police officer, requesting anonymity.

The businessman then approached the Chembur unit of crime branch and lodged a complaint. While he was discussing the threat with the crime branch officers, he received another extortion call. Taking a serious note of the matter, the Property Cell and Anti-Extortion Cell were asked to conduct a probe.

A crime branch source said, "We had received information that the suspects would be arriving near a hotel at Shivaji Park on Friday. A trap was laid at the spot and the trio was apprehended. Fuge and Lohar are natives of Pune. Lohar is said to be the president of a labour union."