Salaskar, his men gun down Ravi Pujari gangsters

The two were on their way to kill a businessman in Kandivili, police say

Encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar has done it again.
A team from the crime branch of the anti-robbery squad that he led gunned down two alleged Ravi Pujari gangsters at Charkop in Kandivili on Thursday evening.

An inspector was injured in the shootout.

Sunil Putran, alias Anna alias Bangera, 35, and Amar Shetty, 25, both from Thane, were in Kandivili to kill a businessman, the police said. Earlier in the day, the two were part of a group that fired at his office in Thane, they said.

Salaskar and his team of 15 policemen laid a trap after being tipped off that the two would be in Mahavir Nagar Junction in the evening. “They came to the spot around 5:30pm,” sub-inspector Satish Mayekar said.

“As soon as they got down from an autorickshaw on the New Link Road, inspector Nitin Alakhnure and two other policemen ran towards them,” he said. “The two started firing. A bullet pierced the right leg of Alakhnure below the knee. Meanwhile, the policemen with revolvers fired at the duo, killing them.”

Alakhnure was taken to Bhagwati Hospital and later shifted to Nanavati Hospital.

The police recovered two factory-made revolvers from the alleged gangsters suspected to have been part of the Pujari gang for two years.
“We believe there are murder, extortion and robbery cases against the two in Mumbai and in Mangalore,” a police officer said. “There may be at least 10 cases against Bangera, including a firing case in Bangalore.”

On Thursday morning, four to five men, alleged to be Pujari gang members, visited the office of Rajesh Munani, a channel distributor, in Thane’s Louiswadi area. “Two of them went inside, while the others waited outside,” joint commissioner of police (crime), Rakesh Maria said. “Bangera and Shetty were among the group,” he said.

They left a note in an envelope in the office and one of them fired three rounds, damaging furniture. The group then fled. When the police opened the envelope, they found two overseas phone numbers written in the note with Ravi Pujari’s name.

Munani had filed a complaint in January alleging that Pujari was trying to extort Rs50lakh from him. The case was transferred to the anti-extortion cell of the Thane police. Munani was provided 24-hour security. He has also hired private guards at his office and residence.

The guard at the office is armed with a revolver. He was on a tea break during the firing, the police said.
(With inputs from Divyesh Singh)
s_somendranath@dnaindia.net