Pune sees fall in juvenile crime but minors’ involvement in serious crime rises

149 cases of juvenile crime were reported between January and October 2025 as compared to 303 during the corresponding period last year

Pune has recorded a sharp decline in juvenile crime in 2025 with crime branch data showing a significant drop – 149 cases between January and October 2025 as compared to 303 during the corresponding period last year. The number of juveniles apprehended has also fallen from 514 in 2024 to 234 this year. However, the severity and boldness of many recent offences involving minors continues to worry the police. The trend of minors being drawn into violent gangs, neighbourhood conflicts, and emerging koyta gangs is equally worrying.

Under ‘Mission Parivartan’ more than 700 juveniles have received counselling, skills development support, mental health interventions, and family outreach. The police say that many former repeat offenders are now employed or have returned to education. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The decline in juvenile crime this year is being credited to sustained counselling, targeted interventions, and a city-wide rehabilitation programme, ‘Mission Parivartan’. Under ‘Mission Parivartan’ more than 700 juveniles have received counselling, skills development support, mental health interventions, and family outreach. The police say that many former repeat offenders are now employed or have returned to education.

Joint commissioner of police (law and order) Ranjan Kumar Sharma said that the decline in juvenile crime reflects focused efforts in terms of prevention and reform. “We’ve intensified counselling, community engagement, and diversion programmes. Our aim is not simply to punish but to reform. Through sustained outreach — especially under ‘Mission Parivartan’ — we give these youths alternatives, hope, and a way back into the mainstream,” he said.

According to criminal lawyer Milind Pawar however, the gravity of juvenile involvement has increased even as numbers decline. “When minors participate in murders, gang-style assaults, or mass vandalism, it signals a deeper breakdown in homes, schools, and neighbourhood support structures. Pune cannot look at statistics alone; we must examine the emotional and social vacuum drawing children into adult-scale crimes,” he said.

Indeed, 2025 has seen a series of violent crimes involving minors, highlighting that the challenge is far from resolved.

One of the most alarming cases was reported on November 4, 2025, when three minors, aged 16 to 17 years, allegedly hacked to death a 17-year-old boy from Ambil Odha Vasahat using two billhooks and a kukri near Maharana Pratap Garden on Bajirao Road, in full public view. The incident, which occurred at around 3.15pm, shocked all those present. The Khadak police later detained all three accused, with investigators citing an old enmity as the likely motive.

In June 2025, the Yerawada police registered a case against five juveniles housed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Observation Home, aged 14 to 17 years, for allegedly attempting to strangle a fellow 17-year-old inmate. The assault followed an argument after the victim reportedly asked them to clean the toilet. Officials said that the accused kicked and punched the boy before tearing a towel and trying to choke him.

In May 2025, a group of minors vandalised 20 to 22 vehicles on Sinhagad Road, declaring themselves ‘bosses of the area’. The police detained the minors and booked their parents for negligence. Bars and restaurants that had served alcohol to the underage boys were also sealed in a subsequent crackdown.

Earlier on January 24, 2025, the Warje Malwadi police detained a juvenile involved in multiple vehicle thefts, recovering seven stolen vehicles during routine patrolling.

As per psychologist Nikunja Gurjar, the motives behind these offences run much deeper than typical delinquency. “Many of these children come from environments marked by instability or a complete absence of supervision. They are searching for identity, power, and belonging — and in the absence of healthy role models, they often find it in violent peer groups. Easy access to alcohol, weapons, and risky spaces accelerate this slide. The online world, where aggression and gang culture are glamorised daily, is equally worrying. These forces together create a dangerous ecosystem that pulls vulnerable minors into behaviour they may not fully understand but are eager to imitate,” she said.