After the sensational murder of a builder who was said to be close to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Pujari went off the Mumbai police radar and escaped to Nepal.
He stayed in the Himalayan country and managed to obtain a passport in the name of Anthony Fernandes by producing a fake address proof in Mysuru.
He then moved to Bangkok, followed by Malaysia and Indonesia. Later, he shifted base to Australia for a brief period.
Pujari subsequently moved to Uganda, Burkina Faso and finally landed in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. He had the citizenship of Burkina Faso as he stayed in the West African country for almost 12 years before moving to Dakar.
He was into multiple businesses in Burkina Faso, including textiles and hotels. Pujari had changed his name to Tony Fernandes and then to Rocky Fernandes. Using Burkina Faso passport, he even visited the US and made frequent trips to Malaysia and Indonesia. He didn’t commit a single crime in any of these foreign countries.
Dignified entrepreneur
Pujari was a prominent name in Burkina Faso, courtesy of his business and wide network. Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Amar Kumar Pandey said Pujari was a respectable citizen in both Burkina Faso and Senegal. He was into social service and distributed clothes, Navratri gifts and installed bore pump sets. In Dakar, he opened an Indian-style restaurant named Maharaja, which was a hit among the people there.
Changed names thrice
Pujari became Anthony Fernandes — a name given to him by guru Chhota Rajan. He secured a passport in that name. According to his Burkina Faso passport, Pujari was born on January 25, 1961. He changed his name to Tony Fernandes and then to Rocky Fernandes.
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