In a case of mistaken identity, immigration authorities at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport detained a woman and her teenaged son as the former’s name matched that in a Look Out Notice (LON) issued by the Karnataka police against gangster Ravi Pujari’s wife. However, before the Karnataka police reached the city on Tuesday afternoon to verify her identity, the Mumbai police verified it independently, ultimately concluding in the negative.
Senior officers said that the Mangalore police had issued a LON in 2012 against the fugitive gangster’s wife in connection with an extortion case registered at the North Canara police station.
In the Mangalore police records, her name figured as Sridevi Santosh Pujari. Coincidentally, the detainee, Sridevi Santosh Pujari, is a resident of Borivali (west) and her 14-year-old son Aryan too shares his name with Ravi Pujari’s son. They reached the airport on Monday morning to board a flight to Abu Dhabi.
“Her name matched with the name mentioned in the LON and we had to take her and her son aside before getting in touch with the Mangalore police. The Mangalore police told us she probably might be Ravi Pujari’s wife who is wanted in their case and said they would be coming her to question her, because of which she had to be detained,” an officer said. “Since 24 hours had elapsed, beyond which a person cannot be detained, we produced her in the Andheri magistrate court under section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows us to hold a person’s custody when there is a ‘reasonable suspicion’. This was done until the Mangalore police team reached Mumbai,” said joint CP (crime) Sadanand Date.
The woman and her son were then transferred to the Sahar police station where they were accommodated in a separate room with “all facilities” being provided to them, according to crime branch officers. However, in the meantime, the Mumbai police conducted a parallel verification where a serving crime branch officer —who had previously interrogated Ravi Pujari’s wife and a retired cop who lives in the same building as the detainee confirmed she was not the gangster’s wife, whose real name is Padma.
24/12/14 Asian Age
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Senior officers said that the Mangalore police had issued a LON in 2012 against the fugitive gangster’s wife in connection with an extortion case registered at the North Canara police station.
In the Mangalore police records, her name figured as Sridevi Santosh Pujari. Coincidentally, the detainee, Sridevi Santosh Pujari, is a resident of Borivali (west) and her 14-year-old son Aryan too shares his name with Ravi Pujari’s son. They reached the airport on Monday morning to board a flight to Abu Dhabi.
“Her name matched with the name mentioned in the LON and we had to take her and her son aside before getting in touch with the Mangalore police. The Mangalore police told us she probably might be Ravi Pujari’s wife who is wanted in their case and said they would be coming her to question her, because of which she had to be detained,” an officer said. “Since 24 hours had elapsed, beyond which a person cannot be detained, we produced her in the Andheri magistrate court under section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows us to hold a person’s custody when there is a ‘reasonable suspicion’. This was done until the Mangalore police team reached Mumbai,” said joint CP (crime) Sadanand Date.
The woman and her son were then transferred to the Sahar police station where they were accommodated in a separate room with “all facilities” being provided to them, according to crime branch officers. However, in the meantime, the Mumbai police conducted a parallel verification where a serving crime branch officer —who had previously interrogated Ravi Pujari’s wife and a retired cop who lives in the same building as the detainee confirmed she was not the gangster’s wife, whose real name is Padma.
24/12/14 Asian Age
