PCB member shot at in Cantonment procession

PUNE: Tension gripped the Cantonment areas on Thursday for a while after Vishnu Gawali alias Babliya, a criminal, shot at Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) member Vivek Yadav in New Modikhana around 10pm.
Yadav is a local BJP leader and the president of Utsav Sanvardak Ganapati Mandal.
The firing did not affect the immersion procession in the rest of the city where it concluded peacefully on Friday around 3pm.Yadav and his followers were part of the immersion procession in Camp with 61 other Ganapati mandals. They were near Qureshi mosque when Gawali shot at Yadav from a countrymade pistol at close range, police said.
"The bullet which entered one side of Yadav's jaw and exited from the other, grazed the head of passerby Sanjay Yadav," inspector G R Bapkar from Cantonment police station said. Mandal workers overpowered Gawali and thrashed him up before police rescued Gawali.
Both the Yadavs are undergoing treatment in Ruby Hall Clinic, while Gawali is being treated at Sassoon General Hospital for external injuries on his stomach and back. All three are stable, doctors said.
Vivek Yadav's brother Chetan has filed a complaint against Gawali and 12 others under the IPC, Arms Act and Maharashtra Police Act.
"We have arrested four suspects including Deepak Gawali, Mohan Gawali, Sagar Gawali and Rahul Gawali and recovered a pistol from the crime scene. A manhunt is on for the other suspects," Bapkar said, adding that Deepak Gawali has registered a counter complaint against Chetan and his brothers, Santosh Yadav, Sudhir Yadav and four others.
Police had given armed guard protection to Yadav. He has been summoned for recording his statement.
Chetan Yadav told TOI, "Gawali and his accomplices created a ruckus and he pulled out a pistol and shot at Yadav because of an old dispute in 2014."
Deputy commissioner of police (Zone II) Pankaj Dahane told TOI that Gawali, who was drunk, opened fire on Yadav. "The firing did not create any law and order problems and the immersion procession in Camp concluded peacefully," he added.
Gawali is an accused in the murder of Khadki Cantonment Board vice president Rajendra Maratkar. His appeal challenging his conviction is pending before Bombay high court.
The bullet had completely shattered Vivek Yadav's jaw bone. "We carried out a surgery and fixed the jaw bone using surgical plates and wires. He will be in hospital for a fortnight. The bullet grazed the bystander's forehead and he has been treated," Ruby Hall Clinic neurosurgeon Sanjay Vhora said.