Four arrested for opening fire at autorickshaw driver

Pune: The Kondhwa police arrested four youngsters late on Tuesday night for allegedly opening fire at a 48-year-old autorickshaw driver around 12.30am on Sunday at Kakade Vasti in Kondhwa, following a dispute after the driver took a sharp turn on the road.The police are searching for three other accomplices, who have already been identified.The autorickshaw driver, a resident of Kondhwa, lodged a complaint with the police on Tuesday morning. A case of attempt to murder has been registered against the seven people.Senior inspector Kumar Ghadge of Kondhwa police told TOI, "Our team arrested Kunal Vinayak Jadhav (19) of Kondhwa, Aditya Shankar Ghaware (21), Akshay Dnyaneshwar Awale (20) and Shivaji Pandurang Margale (21) of Sinhagad Road. We have seized a country-made pistol and a motorcycle worth Rs 50,000 that was used in the crime."Ghadge said, "We received information about the firing and later traced the autorickshaw driver. His complaint was then registered."According to the police, Jadhav was riding his motorcycle in Kondhwa late on Saturday night. "The autorickshaw driver was driving ahead of the motorcycle. Suddenly, the driver took a sharp turn, due to which Jadhav lost control of his motorcycle," Ghadge said."Jadhav then abused the driver, who also retaliated. The two had an altercation at the spot," he said, adding that Jadhav later called his friends. "By the time they reached the spot, the autorickshaw driver had gone and sat in a nearby open ground. The suspects went there, abused him, assaulted him with sharp weapons and then fired in his direction before fleeing the spot," Ghadge added."Our team scanned the area and found an empty cartridge. We then examined the CCTV footage and identified the motorcycle owned by Jadhav. Our team first nabbed him and subsequently arrested the others," Ghadge said.