The Karnataka High Court has directed the Mumbai police to take all safety measures to protect the life of Ravi Pujari, 53, who has been accused of being an underworld operative involved in many cases of extortion and murder and was brought to India after being extradited from Senegal in February 2019. Also, the court directed the Mumbai police to bring him back to the central prison, Bengaluru, after producing him before a special court in Greater Mumbai in connection with criminal case pending against him.
Justice Nataraj Rangaswamy passed the interim order on a petition by Pujari challenging the trial court’s order of granting his custody to Mumbai police for his production before the Mumbai special court.
It has been contended in the petition that granting of his custody to Mumbai police violated the conditions of his extradition from the foreign country as he was supposed to be produced in the cases that were part of the list attached to the extradition order.
Claiming that there is a threat to his life, the petitioner said that the trial court and the Mumbai police could have effectively used the facility of video conferencing for his production before Mumbai court instead of taking him to Mumbai especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court has adjourned further hearing till November 27.
