Mob lynches criminal in Mohammadwadi

PUNE: Tension prevailed in

Mohammadwadi

and its adjoining areas on Sunday after an irate mob lynched a 20-year-old criminal on police record at the Rajiv Gandhi colony on Saturday night.


A sizeable crowd gathered in front of the Mohammadwadi police chowky on Sunday afternoon after the relatives and friends of the victim, Akshay Balasaheb Sonawane, kept his body in front of the chowky, demanding immediate arrest of those involved in the killing. The police had a tough time prevailing upon the relatives to perform the last rites and letting them conduct investigations.

Assistant commissioner of police (Wanowrie division) Milind Patil told TOI, “We are conducting an inquiry to establish the identity of those involved in the killing.” A state reserve police force (SRPF) picket was positioned in the area to avoid any untoward fallout while the local police too stepped up their vigil.

No arrests had been made till late Sunday evening. The police sought to play down the incident by saying that the killing was “an act of revenge”. The FIR states that three unidentified persons killed Sonawane and charges have been invoked under sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Police said Sonawane, a school dropout, was addicted to liquor and whitener. He had 10 criminal cases against him, five of which he had allegedly committed as a juvenile. The cases included offences punishable under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 394 (armed robbery), 379 and 380 (theft & vehicle theft) and 326 (causing grievous hurt) of the IPC, among others. He would often terrorise and abuse people in his locality, police said.

Nine of the 10 cases were registered with the Wanowrie police and one (section 326) with the Kondhwa police. The Wanowrie police had recently recovered two stolen two-wheelers from him. The police were in the process of initiating a proposal to extern him from their jurisdiction, an officer said.

The Incident

On Saturday afternoon, Sonawane picked up a quarrel and manhandled and abused a woman when she confronted him for driving his vehicle rashly in the locality. The woman’s husband and a few others from the locality approached the police and lodged a complaint against Sonawane under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 and 506 (intentional insult and criminal intimidation) of the IPC. Late on Saturday evening, Sonawane returned to the locality under the influence of liquor and whitener, police said.

On learning about the complaint against him, Sonawane allegedly started pelting stones at the woman’s house and abused people in the vicinity.

Inspector Sahebrao Bhapkar of the Wanowrie police said, “While Sonawane was creating a ruckus, a group of men, armed with sticks and iron rods, chased him and assaulted him brutally. He cried for help but no one intervened. He sustained serious injuries on his head and back.”

Bhapkar said, “A police team rushed to the spot on receiving an emergency call and found him bleeding heavily. The team took him to a nearby private hospital and later to the Sassoon hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.”

Troubled Background

Inspector Bhapkar said, “Sonawane lost his mother at a very young age and his father, an autorickshaw driver, married another woman. Often under the influence of liquor and other substances, Sonawane would terrorise and abuse local residents. He would also rob residents of their belongings to fuel his addiction.”

A woman social activist, who did not wish to be named, told TOI, “He fell into bad company and took to addiction at a young age. He would often beat up his father and stepmother when they confronted him after people would approach them with complaints against him. Residents in the locality tried to counsel him on several occasions. Recently, he was involved in vandalising four vehicles in the locality.”