Pimpri-Chinchwad: A shopkeeper was shot in the Pimpri Camp area on August 1 while the assailant attempted to snatch the gold chain he was wearing. On August 6, the Crime Branch of Pimpri-Chinchwad Police arrested the accused involved. However, officials on Wednesday, in a press conference, clarified that the accused arrested was part of the gang of notorious underworld gangster Ravi Pujari.
The injured shopkeeper, identified as Bhavesh Kakrani, had complained to Pimpri Police Station, and a case was registered. The Anti-Property Crime Cell arrested Ravindra Bhausaheb Ghare (age 40, resident of Chikhali, native of Ozarde, Maval Taluka) in connection with the incident. Officials said that the accused is indeed a notorious history-sheeter and has previously targeted businessmen and builders too.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Dr Shivaji Pawar said that on August 1, when the victim was in his shop, the accused Ghare came there. He came on a black motorcycle, and his face was covered. He demanded a cold drink in the shop and, while receiving it, suddenly snatched the gold chain the victim was wearing. In the scuffle, the accused Ghare shot Kakrani. Pimpri-Chinchwad Police created 10 teams to track down the accused.
At that time, while the Anti-Property Crime Cell of the Crime Branch was investigating the matter, they checked the CCTV footage of the crime spot. They found that the accused was wearing a raincoat and a helmet. He was also using a stolen motorcycle, making it almost impossible for the police to determine and identify him. Assistant Police Inspector Pandurang Devkate and Police Constables Somnath More and Mohsin Attar, after hours of watching CCTV footage and conducting technical analysis, identified the residence of the accused. However, the police didn’t know how he looked. According to the body figure determined in CCTV, the police went and arrested Ghare.
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Ghare was an expert in avoiding police and was living in areas with high population density and no CCTV coverage. He was also not using a phone. But the Anti-Property Crime Cell, however, arrested him at his location. In the investigation, his criminal record came forward. He was absconding from an extortion case registered with the Navi Mumbai Police. He was also connected to notorious underworld gangsters Ravi Pujari and Suresh Pujari. He has records of crimes like murder, attempted murder, robbery and extortion. Action under the MCOCA Act has been taken against him two times in the Navi Mumbai area, and he has 25 serious offences registered against him.
Pimpri-Chinchwad Police have managed to recover the gold chain he stole and have seized one country-made pistol, 11 live cartridges, 2 motorcycles, and other items he used in the crime.
Ravi Pujari, a prominent name in Mumbai's Underworld Gangs of the 1980s, has 51 violent cases registered against him in Mumbai alone. Suresh Pujari was his associate initially and later formed his own gang. Ravi was arrested in Senegal in 2019 and was extradited to India in 2020. Suresh Pujari, however, is arrested by the Mumbai police and is undergoing trial. Both of them were involved in rivalries with each other after the split. Ravi also had a gang rivalry with underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan, and others.
This action was done under the guidance of Pimpri-Chinchwad Commissioner of Police Vinoy Kumar Choubey, Joint Commissioner of Police Dr. Shashikant Mahavarkar, Additional Commissioner of Police Sarang Awhad, DCP Dr. Shivaji Pawar, and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime 1) Dr. Vishal Hire.
The team, led by Senior Police Inspector Vijay Dhamal, included APIs Dattatraya Gulig, Pandurang Devkate, Gorakshnath Balwadkar, Police Constables Mahesh Khande, Somnath More, Mohsin Attar, Amol Gore, Vishal Gaikwad, Chandrakant Gadade, Nitin Umrajkar, Ganesh Sawant, Sumit Devkar, Pavan Waje, Samir Raskar, Amar Kadam, Nitin Lokhande, Vinod Veer, Ganesh Hinge, Pravin Kamble, Dnyaneshwar Kolge, Ganesh Kokane, Harshad Kadam, and Audumbar Range.
