Three henchmen of Suresh Pujari arrested over firings

Mumbai: The Mumbai crime branch arrested three henchmen of fugitive gangster Suresh Pujari, who were involved in recent incidents of firing in Thane district’s Ulhasnagar and Nalasopara. The crime branch also seized weapons and stolen motorcycles used in the crime. The three accused were identified as Raj Chauhan, 25, Ali Zafar Khan, 27 (both residents of Mumbai) and Sudhakar Khistofariya, 52, a resident of Surat. Officials said that all three accused did not have a past record of criminal cases.

A team of Anti Extortion Cell (AEC) including officer Vinayak Vast, Sachin Kadam, Sanjeev Dhumal, Raju Surve and others apprehended them from LBS Road in Kurla on Friday night.

On April 27, Chauhan and Khan had fired rounds at the counter of a wine shop in Ulhasnagar after issuing threat in the name of Pujari. A case was registered with the Hill Line police station there. Subsequently, on May 7, the duo committed a similar offence again at 1 pm in Nalasopara and shot at a person on a hotel’s cash counter. The victim is still recuperating.

“We have seized a 7.65 bore pistol, two magazines, eight live rounds, phones and Rs 2.5 lakh cash from them. They had met to distribute the money for their roles in the two firing cases,” said Dilip Sawant, deputy commissioner of police (crime).

Theft cases have been registered with the Mahatma Phule police in Kalyan and with the Kasturba Marg police station in Borivali, officials said. Chauhan and Khan worked for a caterer and Khristofariya was not into any occupation currently.