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Revenge plot foiled; 2 held for allegedly planning attack on Andekar gang members
According to the police, the conspiracy was linked to the ongoing rivalry between criminal gangs in Pune
Pune Crime Branch on Sunday foiled an alleged revenge plot by a rival gang to attack three members of the Andekar gang while police were escorting them from a city court to prisons in Dhule and Nandurbar. Two youths have been arrested, while three others have been booked for allegedly conspiring to execute the attack.
The arrested accused have been identified as Vedant Rohit Sawant (21), a resident of Wanowrie-Keshavnagar, and Atharva Dattatray Khopade (21), a resident of Gujarwadi in Katraj. Police have also named Suraj Ashok Thombre (24), Manav Sharad Dhamale (24) and Dhiraj Lakhara, along with other associates, in the case.
According to the police, the conspiracy was linked to the ongoing rivalry between criminal gangs in Pune and allegedly aimed at avenging the murders of Ayush Komkar and Ganesh Kale, as well as an earlier fatal attack on Akshay Mhaske.
The incident occurred when Krishna Andekar, Swaraj Wadkar and Tushar Wadkar, all accused in the Akshay Mhaske murder case, were produced before the Shivajinagar court. After the court proceedings, they were being escorted to prisons in Dhule and Nandurbar.
Police alleged that the accused tailed the escort vehicle from the Shivajinagar court up to Chakan while gathering information about the convoy’s movement and security arrangements.
Investigators said that between July 23 and July 26, the accused had conducted reconnaissance in the Gujarwadi-Katraj and Shivajinagar areas in preparation for the attack.
According to the police, Khopade, Sawant and Lakhara allegedly followed the police convoy on a motorcycle and continuously relayed its location and movement to co-accused Suraj Thombre over phone.
Gauhar Hasan, deputy commissioner of police (crime), said, “We received information that some suspects were following a police escort vehicle and conducting reconnaissance of its route. We intercepted them, arrested two accused and detained one person. Further questioning is underway.”
During the investigation, police allegedly recovered a firearm from Khopade, strengthening the suspicion that the group intended to launch a direct attack on the police vehicle carrying the rival gang members.
Police are investigating whether the alleged conspiracy was part of a larger plan to eliminate members of the Andekar gang in retaliation for earlier gang-related killings.
Mansing Patil, senior inspector of Bharti Vidyapeeth police station, said, “Based on a complaint filed by the Crime Branch, we have registered an FIR against five accused, arrested two of them and launched a search for the remaining suspects.”
Bharti Vidyapeeth police registered a case under sections 55, 61(1) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with relevant provisions of the Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act.
Police are now probing the involvement of other suspects, the source of the firearm and whether a larger criminal conspiracy was behind the alleged plot.
