Ravi Pujari's aide arrested in extortion case

An associate of fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari has been arrested in an extortion case here after being deported from Dubai, police said today.
Ashok Devadiga alias Anil was flown to Delhi by Dubai police and from there, Mumbai police crime branch team escorted him here before placing him under arrest in an extortion case registered against him in Govandi police station last year, a crime branch official said.
Police invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused and produced him before the special MCOCA court today, which remanded him in police custody till August 16.

Devadiga was detained in February as he was about to fly to Malaysia from Dubai. He was subsequently arrested by Dubai police, who sent a message to India through the CBI that the accused against whom India had issued a red corner notice (RCN) was in their custody, police said.
Last year, he had called up a businessman on behalf of Pujari and gave death threats if the victim did not shell out Rs 50 lakh, police said.
An FIR was registered in Govandi police station and two Pujari associates Pratap Shetty and Pavan Sahani had been arrested in the case.