Pune: Told to pay fine, maskless trio attack cop

PUNE: A businessman and his employee were arrested, and his brother-in-law was booked after a 28-year-old constable lodged an FIR accusing the trio of assaulting him when he fined them for not wearing face masks in a shop in Nana Peth on Wednesday evening.
The Samarth police have identified the businessman as Ritesh Kasat (43) and his employee as Akshay Bengrut (27).“The constable, Vijay Bhosale, spotted the businessman and the two others selling packaged drinking water to customers without wearing masks and sought fine, following which the trio picked up an argument with the constable and assaulted him,” senior inspector Balkrishna Kadam of the Samarth police told TOI.
The city police and PMC have launched a drive against people not wearing masks in the public in the wake of the Covid-19 spread. “Bhosale and his colleague were patrolling the area to nab the violators, when they saw the trio attending to some customers without wearing masks at Palki Vithoba Chowk,” assistant inspector Pervez Shikaljar said.
The officer said after Bhosale issued a receipt and asked the trio to pay fine for flouting norms, they attacked him. “After Bhosale alerted his superiors, a police team reached the spot and took Kasat and Bengrut into custody. Kasat’s brother-in-law had fled the shop,” Shikaljar said.
Kasat and Bengrut are lodged in temporary jail in Yerawada after a court on Thursday sent them in magisterial custody remand for a fortnight.