MUMBAI: Gangster Suresh Pujari who is wanted in several extortion cases in Mumbai and surrounding areas has been arrested in the Philippines, police sources said on Tuesday.
The police in Thane, where most of the extortion cases have been registered against him, has started the process to seek his custody, a senior police official told PTI.
While Mumbai Police did not comment on the development, a report on the website of the Manila Bulletin, a newspaper in the Philippines, said the "Bureau of Immigration" had arrested Suresh Basappa Pujari (48) from Paranaque city, and he would be "expelled".
He was staying in the country illegally, it added.
At least 23 cases of extortion are registered against him in Thane, said the senior police officer.
Thane Police had issued a look-out notice against Pujari and an Interpol red corner notice was also issued against him, the official added.
Suresh is a close relative of gangster Ravi Pujari who was arrested in Senegal two years ago and deported to India.
After parting ways with Ravi Pujari in 2007, Suresh fled abroad.
He also used an alias of `Satish Shekhar Pai', the official said.
According to police sources, he was arrested last Thursday.