Mumbai:
In a case of mistaken identity, a woman suspected of being underworld don Ravi Pujari's wife was held in police custody for over 24 hours, after she was detained at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport along with her four-year-old son.
Incidentally, she and her son share the don's wife's and son's first names as well.
42-year-old Sridevi Pujari, who was on her way to Dubai for a Christmas vacation along with her family, was detained on the basis of a lookout notice issued by the Mangalore Police.
The notice was in connection with an extortion case against the fugitive don, who is also wanted by the police for his alleged involvement in several other cases.
Ms Pujari and her son were detained by officials at the Mumbai Airport and handed over to the local police.
The Mangalore Police, meanwhile, took over 24 hours to ascertain that she was not the person they were looking for.
Ms Pujari, a school teacher who stays in Mumbai's suburban Borivali, is reportedly in a state of shock over the incident.
Sridevi's husband Santosh told media personnel, "She was detained at Immigration. They were taken away from there and interrogated. They (officials) could have avoided dragging on the matter. But I don't have any complaints against the police. Maybe the procedure takes time."