Police also found two pistols and five live rounds. Patil will be in police custody till September 29.
In a major jolt to the Suresh Pujari gang, Thane's anti-extortion cell arrested three gang members in connection with July's firing incident in Ulhasnagar. Two motorbike-borne assailants, allegedly associated with underworld gangster Suresh Pujari, opened fire at city builder Sumit Chakraborty's office.
The accused have been identified by police as Yash alias Ramesh Bhimrao Patil (40), a resident of Ulhasnagar and Pujari's main informer (who was arrested on September 21), Vijayprakash Sundar Pujari (43) from Ulhasnagar and Dayanand Narayan Amin alias Pujari (63), who was arrested from Mira road on September 22 respectively.
"During the investigation, we were informed that the gang would identify businessmen who they could extort money from and relay the information to Pujari. The gangster would then call the targets and demand money from them," said an anti-extortion cell official.
Police also found two pistols and five live rounds. Patil will be in police custody till September 29.
Police were also given information about Pujari's other gang members. "We have been informed that Pujari funds his gang to buy arms and meet expenses through hawala and angadias. We also have a list of businessmen who fund Pujari's activities. We expect to make more arrests soon," said the official.
Police said the accused have been keeping Pujari updated about Chakraborty's whereabouts. Sumit, who is president of Ulhasnagar Trade Association, was not in his office when the incident occurred in July. However, the shooters fired two rounds on his associate Deepak Rajani, who escaped unhurt. It is believed that Sumit, his brother Sujeet and Sumit's son Aakash were receiving extortion calls from Suresh Pujari seeking Rs 2 crore.
When Chakraborty refused to fulfill his demand, two of Pujari's men entered his office on July 11. They asked Chakraborty's associate Deepak Rajani about his whereabouts. When Rajani said his boss was not around, the gang opened fire on him. Rajani escaped unhurt and lodged a case with Ulhasnagar police station.
Over the past few years, Pujari has become quite active in Dombivli, Thane, Ulhasnagar and Badlapur.
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