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Pune builder shot dead as killers fire 6 bullets; four arrested
A local builder was shot dead on Monday, in a crowded road in south Pune’s Katraj area by four men who escaped on a two-wheeler
A local builder was shot dead on Monday, in a crowded road in south Pune’s Katraj area by four men who escaped on a two-wheeler. The unidentified assailants fired at least six bullets at Sameer Manoor Shaikh, 28, who died on the spot, police said. Within hours, police arrested all the four assailants including the one to whom Shaikh is suspected to have a financial dispute.
Police said the attack took place a little after 11.30am outside Rohit Wadwewale, a local eatery, not far away from Bharati Vidyapeeth police chowky. The assailants on two, two-wheeler vehicles were following the now-deceased from Kalubainagar locality in Phalenagar area of Ambegaon Pathar in Katraj.
According to the police, the attackers, came on two motorbikes. “Two of them on a motorbike fired bullets at Shaikh while others were waiting nearby,” said Jagannath Kalaskar, senior police inspector of Bharti Vidyapeeth police station.
Onlookers who were eating at the eatery said that the six bullets were fired in the upper part of Shaikh’s body, close to his head. Five out of six bullets hit him. Shaikh was instantly found lying in pool of blood. According to a worker at an optical store next to the eatery, the assailants rushed towards Katraj Dairy post the shooting.
Shaikh was later rushed to the local hospital but did not survive. A police officer said his body has been sent to Sassoon general hospital for an autopsy.
“During the probe, one person, Mehboob Bulargi, who had a continuing dispute with Shaikh for the last 5-7 months was first detained and later arrested. By evening, our team of our officials arrested other three assailants from different locations in the city,” said Kalaskar. Along with Bulargi, a minor boy claiming to be 17 years of age, and two men identified as Nilesh Kumbhar and Sufian Jauri have been arrested and an illegal weapon has been recovered from them.
“Mehboob Bulargi had given a construction project to Shaikh and had paid ₹17 lakh for it. Work of ₹10 lakh was completed and Shaikh returned ₹5 lakh through irregular payments. But Bulargi was asking for the final payment of ₹2.5 lakh which Shaikh was avoiding. Their dispute started when they both lived in Janata Vasahat,” added Kalaskar.
Police said Shaikh was sitting on a red Royal Enfield Bullet in front of the eatery when the two suspects are believed to have fired at him. The police have found six empty bullet shells near where he was shot. There were five other vehicles which were parked flanked to Shaikh’s bike.
Police officer Kalaskar said the suspects are believed to have followed Shaikh from his house in Ambegaon Pathar, about 3-5km from the place where he was killed. “They followed him there and shot him from behind as he sat on his two-wheeler,” Kalaskar said, citing initial statements from witnesses.
There are three CCTV cameras in the area including one that covers the spot where Shaikh’s body and his blood-stained motorcycle were found and one pointing towards where the assailants fled. The police officer added that were scanning footage from CCTV cameras along the way to verify more information.
Multiple incidents of gun-violence in Pune city this year
The brutal murder by shooting of small-time builder in Katraj, on Monday, is only the latest in a series of gun-violence cases in the city this year. Here is a recap of some of the other incidents.
November 27: A man named Amar Chavan was injured after a gun in possession of his friend Gaurav Birungikar misfired and lodged in his stomach while they were near Warje Malwadi bridge.
October 22: Two people were killed, and two others were seriously injured when a group of men opened fire at a man in a restaurant in Uruli Kanchan area of Pune. The deceased were identified as Santosh Jagtap and Swagat Khaire. Among the two injured, Monu Singh, succumbed to his injuries later.
October 2021: In another incident three friends, one of them a software engineer, managed to procure a gun and two of them accidentally shot dead the third one in his house in Kondhwa Khurd. The deceased was identified as Ganesh Taralekar while the two arrested were Sagar Binwant and Datta Hazare.
September 2: A murder convict on parole from Nashik prison, shot two rounds at a youngster who tried to stop him from stealing in a residential building in Ghorpade peth. The injured was identified as Awaiz Salim Ansari while the convict was identified as Vithal Bhole.
March 2021: A grocery shop owner named Vishal Punjabi was injured when a man named Ashok Gavai open fired into the shop located on Dattanagar-Katraj road in Ambegaon Khurd.
These incidents beg the question, where are the citizens from various walks of life getting access to illegal weapons? While police issue statements about multiple illegal weapon seizures in the city, the supply is refusing to cease
