Did underworld don Ravi Pujari flee Senegal after jumping bail in fake case?

MUMBAI/BENGALURU: Underworld don Ravi Pujari, who was arrested in Senegal on January 21 this year, has jumped bail granted by a local court last week and fled the west African nation, unconfirmed reports suggest.

Sources in Karnataka police said there were reports that Pujari had fled to another country by road, but admitted they have not received official confirmation from the Senegalese government. Pujari has an Interpol red corner notice issued against him and faces at least 200 cases in India, including for extortion and murder. He also faces dozens of cases for threatening Bollywood and Sandalwood stars and a prominent industrialist. Sources say he was living under the assumed name of Anthony Fernandes and claimed to be a Burkina Faso citizen.

India had initiated measures to obtain custody of the don, but Pujari is suspected to have got a fake cheating case registered against him in Senegal to stall his deportation. It is a uniform rule that if a wanted man is arrested for a crime in a foreign country, he will first face trial in that country before deportation to his country of origin.


A Senegal court last week granted Pujari bail in the cheating case on the condition that he would not leave the country till the case is decided. The decision to grant bail had left Indian security agencies worried as they feared Pujari would flee Senegal like how another underworld don Chhota Rajan, had fled Bangkok in 2000. It now appears those fears have come true.

“Senegal is surrounded by small countries like Burkina Faso, Mali and Ivory Coast and it’s easy for a criminal like Pujari to flee,” a source said.

Mumbai police said a team of two officials from Delhi have flown to Senegal. Pujari had been traced to Senegal in an operation involving Indian intelligence agencies, Karnataka police, Gujarat ATS and African authorities.