E-Paper
Gang rivalry turns violent in Pune; two minors among 18 held for attempted murder, rioting
On Monday, Mahesh alias Bunty Pawar, a man in his 30s with criminal record, and his gang attacked two persons in separate instances. The two men, who were attacked, were identified as Chetan Dhebe, 21, a resident of Hingane Khurd and Rahul Vaibhare.
Gang rivalry turned violent in two areas of the city over the past two days and harmless residents bore the brunt with their parked vehicles damaged, window panes, shops and even television sets vandalised.
On Monday, Mahesh alias Bunty Pawar, a man in his 30s with criminal record, and his gang attacked two persons in separate instances. The two men, who were attacked, were identified as Chetan Dhebe, 21, a resident of Hingane Khurd and Rahul Vaibhare.
On Tuesday, 20-25 motorbike-borne men armed with blades vandalised 25-30 vehicles in Tukainagar area on Sinhagad road. Two minors were among three who were injured in the Tuesday chaos that took place in response to the act committed by Pawar’s gang on Monday in Hingane Khurd.
The long-standing rivalry between criminals Pawar and Dhebe is known in the area.
One of the two injured minors was identified as Sameer Shaikh who sustained a head injury, but is stable. He happened to be present at the spot of the frenzy. Along with vehicles, the miscreants also targeted houses and shops in Tukainagar. A television set, window panes, shops, cars, and motorbikes parked in the area were vandalised.
Two minors and 16 men were arrested on Wednesday in two cases of attempted murder and one case of rioting registered as a fallout of the two incidents, according to senior police inspector Duryodhan Pawar. While the two minors will be presented to the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), the adults were taken to a local court in Pune and remanded to police custody.
“Stringent preventive action will be taken against these men,” said Bachchan Singh, deputy commissioner of police, crime, Pune.
“When we picked up Pawar at 7-7:30pm, we started receiving information about disturbance in Tukainagar. Some 20-25 men had arrived there on two-wheelers and targeted two lanes in the area. At least 25-30 vehicles were vandalised,” said DCP Singh, who was among the senior officials who visited the spot. “We later found out that Dhebe was involved in the attack,” he added.
While Pawar has a list of 16 cases, including two murders and six attempted murders, Dhebe has six cases registered against him in Pune. Pawar was also booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (Mcoca) and was in Yerawada Central Jail till June 27 in the same case.
While a case of attempted murder of four people was registered in the incident that took place on Monday night, a case of attempted murder and another one of rioting was registered in the attack on Tuesday. All three cases were registered at Sinhagad road police station.
