Five Suresh Pujari shooters nabbed

Mumbai:officers from the Mumbai crime branch’s Anti-extortion Cell (AEC) solved a shootout case by arresting the alleged five members of the Suresh Pujari gang. The accused had allegedly attacked a developer from Ulhasnagar in July.

Those arrested were identified as Hanumant Gaikwad alias Anna, 27, caterer in Solapur, Rahul Londhe, 24, crane maintenance agent in Solapur, Ravindra Ghare alias Ravi, 31, caterer from Pune, Rohan D’costa, 30, owner of a hooka parlour in Kharghar, and Eklaq Shaikh, 30, a resident of Ghansoli. While Ghare, D’costa and Shaikh were arrested from Sion-trombay Road in Chembur, where they had met to plan another hit, the remaining two were nabbed later.

Following their arrest, the AEC officers recovered five rounds, four magazines, six mobile phones and a stolen motorbike, used for conducting a recce before an attack.

Officials said that D’costa was in direct touch with the gangster and had received Rs 5 lakh for distributing it among the other shooters and buying firearms for the attack on builder Sumeet Chakravarty. The attack had taken place on July7.

“We have informed the Ulhasnagar police about the arrests, as the case was registered by them. The accused are currently being questioned by us,” said KMM Prasanna, additional police commissioner, crime branch.

Investigators said the identity of Gaikwad and Londhe were already known, as their faces were captured by the CCTV cameras at the scene of the attack. All the accused, besides Gaikwad and Londhe, have been remanded in police