Mumbai: Wife of Deported Gangster Ravi Pujari Released on Bail

 Padma Pujari, the wife of deported gangster Ravi Pujari, was granted bail of Rs 50,000 due to a passport issue dating back to 2005. She appeared in court, where the judge imposed charges against her, required two sureties, and requested her passport.

Padma, who had worked at an airport before marrying Ravi, claimed that she did not know about her husband's criminal activities until his arrest for murder in 1994. After his release, Ravi had arranged passports and visas for her and their children for a trip to Bangkok and Thailand in 1999. However, Padma was unaware that the travel documents were counterfeit. Subsequently, she was arrested in 2005 for possessing a forged passport but then disappeared.

She explained that she fled to Burkina Faso in Africa because she feared for her and her kids' safety. There, she lived a normal life, got her MBA and PhD, and started teaching. She decided to return to India after her husband was deported. Padma wants to surrender her Burkina Faso nationality and become an Indian citizen. She's asked authorities there to help with this.