Mid Day

• Supercop Raju Pillai who died of cardiac arrest was very close to trapping the gangster

Mumbai, Apr 4: Gangster Ravi Pujari seems to have got a new lease of life after the untimely death of Inspector Raju Babu Pillai.

Untimely death: police Inspector Raju Babu Pillai

The 50-year-old Pillai, who was posted at the Andheri police station, died in the line of duty after a cardiac arrest on March 29.

He was on a secret mission along with his squad to nab Pujari, who is believed to be hiding in south India.

Pillai was the only officer who had arrested Pujari in 1995 for a murder in Andheri after which he was on bail and has since been absconding.

“Since a couple of years Pillai was secretly working on intercepting Pujari and his network.

He had all the logistics and information about Pujari and was close to nabbing him,” said Inspector Pradeep Suryavanshi from D N Nagar police station, Andheri. 

Pillai also played a vital role in getting a Red Corner notice issued by the Interpol on Pujari.

Ravi Pujari

According to the police sources, Pillai had unearthed Pujari’s communication network.

“He discovered that Pujari used SIM cards from South Africa and transferred the calls on his laptop through satellite phoning software, which made it difficult for the intelligence agencies to track him,” said a source.

A few days before his death, Pillai had trailed Pujari’s location somewhere in Karnataka and was to trap him.”  

Suryavanshi concluded that Pillai was an encyclopedia on crime and had planned the entire operation singularly. “His death is a setback for us,” said Suryavanshi.

In a telephonic conversation, Pujari said, “I still recollect the severe battering I took from him in 1995 in a murder case.”  
 
Who Was Pillai?

One of the most senior encounter specialists, Raju Babu Pillai, joined the police force 20 years ago. 

He was instrumental in arresting fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari in 1995 for the murder of don Shrikant Nanu Desai alias Mama.

Pillai shot two Rajan criminals near Don Bosco School in 1998 and in the same year on October 11, arrested dreaded gangster D K Rao, the aide of Chhota Rajan, and gunned down three others at Dadar.   

Pillai was conferred with the President’s Medal in 2006 for solving serious offences and gunning down lieutenants from Dawood and Rajan gangs.

Pillai was currently in charge of the elite squad founded by Additional Police Commissioner Parambir Singh and continued by his colleague Bipin Bihari.