Mumbai: The Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested three history-sheeters in connection with a firing in Vile Parle last year. The accused had allegedly fired a shot outside an outlet of a restaurant chain on the instructions of gangster Ravi Pujari, after which the latter allegedly called the hotel owner and threatened him.
On October 10, two men reached the restaurant and went up to the employee who was managing the ice cream counter outside. The men allegedly gave him a piece of paper, asking him to tell the owner of the chain to call the number on it, and fired a round in his direction with a handgun before leaving. No one was injured, and a complaint was registered with the Vile Parle police, after which the AEC initiated investigations. The owner of the chain subsequently received threatening calls from Pujari.
“After analysing the CCTV footage and making inquiries with informants, we confirmed Pujari’s involvement. With the help of human intelligence and technical investigation, we identified the accused involved in the offence and tracked them down,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Vinay Rathod.
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The AEC first picked up two accused, identified as Suresh Pujari (54) and Ramesh Pujari (49), and their interrogation led to the arrest of the third accused, identified as Mrityunjay Das (36).