A senior police officer said Radiowala was likely to reach Delhi by Tuesday night after which he would be produced before the court. (Representational Image)OBED RADIOWALA, an alleged aide of gangster Ravi Pujari, who is a wanted accused in the 2014 firing on Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani and for the conspiracy to kill filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, was deported to India from the US on Tuesday night. Radiowala had been apprehended in the US and had been in the custody of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since September 2017 for illegally staying in the country. The Mumbai Police had issued a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Radiowala, seeking his extradition to face the law in the two cases registered against him in Mumbai.
A senior officer from the Mumbai Police said, “Obed Radiowala, a Ravi Pujari aide, has been deported from the US. The police had issued an RCN since he was involved in two cases in the city.” The officer said Radiowala was likely to reach Delhi by Tuesday night after which he would be produced before the court. The officer said the Crime Branch will seek his custody in connection with the two cases registered against him. “After his custodial interrogation, we will file chargesheets against him in both the cases,” the officer added.
Once back in the city, Radiowala will face charges for attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, extortion, forgery, cheating, theft, use and possession of illegal firearms and transmission of information by using internet to form organised crime syndicate in addition to charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
A senior officer from the Mumbai Police said, “Obed Radiowala, a Ravi Pujari aide, has been deported from the US.The Mumbai Police in its chargesheet had alleged that members of the Ravi Pujari gang — who himself is facing extradition to India from Senegal — had fired at producer Morani over a dispute about overseas rights of the Bollywood film Happy New Year, which was produced by the Morani brothers. As per the police case, Radiowala had been threatening the producers on behalf of Pujari. Later, members of the Pujari gang opened fire at the Moranis’ Juhu bungalow in 2014. It was, however later that year, when the same accused were arrested while preparing an attack on Mahesh Bhatt that they were arrested. During interrogation, the police found that the same set of accused were also involved in the firing on Morani.
A special court had last year convicted 10 people for conspiring to kill Bhatt. The accused, who were sentenced to five years imprisonment, were members of the gang headed by Pujari, who the police said wanted to revive his gang in Mumbai by targeting high-profile people. The trial in the Morani case is underway.
Advocate Nazneen Khatri, representing Radiowala, said she had received information from his relatives that he was deported last night from the US. She, however, said she has not been informed about his whereabouts, including when and where he will be brought or detained in India.
