Fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari has been arrested in South Africa and is being brought to India by a team of officials, a senior police officer said here on Sunday.

Pujari, wanted in extortion and murder cases in different parts of the country, was on the run for over 15 years.

Pujari was deported to Senegal in West Africa after his arrest and then extradited.

Pujari had jumped bail in Senegal last year after being arrested there.

“(We are) coming with him from Senegal. Now in Paris. Coming by Air France and (would be) there (in India) by midnight, the police officer, part of the team, told PTI.

Pujari, who hails from Karnataka, is likely to be brought here by Monday morning, police sources said.

The National Investigation Agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Research and Analysis Wing would join the investigation, the sources said.

According to the police, the gangster, facing over 200 cases including murder and extortion, was arrested in January last year by the Senegal authorities after remaining elusive.

Despite efforts of Indian officials to get him extradited then, a local court had granted him bail and Pujari later fled to South Africa.

Police sources on Sunday said the gangster was arrested from a village in a joint operation by the South African and Senegal police.

After he was brought to Senegal, the Indian team completed extradition formalities, they added.

Pujari was initially associated with gangster Chhota Rajan, but he had also worked for fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.