Gangster Suresh Pujari deported to India from Philippines; brought to Mumbai by Maha ATS
Mumbai(PTI): Gangster Suresh Pujari, wanted in several extortion cases in Mumbai region and Karnataka who was on the run for over 15 years, has been deported to India, a senior police official said on Wednesday.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Wednesday took custody of Pujari in Delhi and brought him to Mumbai in connection with cases registered against him in Thane city, an official said.
Pujari, wanted in extortion cases in Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan, Ulhasnagar and Dombivli near Mumbai, was brought back to India late Tuesday night after he was arrested and deported from the Philippines.
Intelligence Bureau (IB) and CBI officials took his custody after he landed at Delhi airport, the official said.
An ATS team, led by DCP Rajkumar Shinde, went to Delhi to take Pujari's custody on Tuesday evening. He was brought to Mumbai on Wednesday morning by a flight, the official said.
All the cases registered against Pujari in Thane city were transferred to the Maharashtra ATS on orders of the state Director General of Police's (DGP) office, he said.
Accordingly, these cases will be investigated by the ATS, he said. After he was brought to Mumbai, Pujari was produced before a court here for his custody, he said.
After Maharashtra ATS, Mumbai Police will take Pujari's custody in connection with the cases registered against him in the Maharashtra capital, he said.
Mumbai and Thane police had issued red-corner notices against Pujari in 2017 and 2018, respectively after several extortion cases were lodged against him.
Pujari, who was on the run for over 15 years, was nabbed in the Philippines in October, the official said. Altogether 23 extortion cases have been registered against him in Thane, he said.
He was a close relative of gangster Ravi Pujari but separated from him in 2007. He then fled abroad.
Early in his career in crime, he had worked with underworld don Chhota Rajan and Ravi Pujari and later formed his own gang, the official said.
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
