Pune girl freed from jilted lover’s clutches

A friendship that developed again with a former schoolmate turned into a nightmare for a 17-year-old girl after he kidnapped her and forced her to stay with him for two months.

The Pune police, who were approached by her parents, finally tracked them down in Lucknow at a rented room in a slum with the help of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF).

The victim was rescued and the suspect, Ashish Ravindra Pawar (21) of Malegaon, arrested.

The victim studies at a college in Paud. Both the victim and the suspect, hail from Malegaon and were schoolmates. They met again through a social networking website and exchanged cellphone numbers.

The girl’s father registered a missing person complaint at Warje Malwadi police station on September 19. During investigation, the police found that the victim was kidnapped by Ashish, a first year student of automobile engineering at DY Patil College, Wagholi.

With the police failing to trace the girl after a month, her parents approached the city police commissioner, Meeran Borwankar, for speedy action. She directed the anti-dacoity cell to probe the matter, which cracked the case.
On Friday, Ashish was produced before the judicial magistrate (first class) where he was remanded in police custody till December 3.

Police inspector of the anti-dacoity cell, Ram Jadhav, said, “The victim and Ashish used to interact. But the friendship took an ugly turn after Ashish proposed to the girl and she refused. On September 19, Ashish met the victim on her college campus and threatened to kill her and her parents. The victim was forcibly taken to Shirdi in a public transport bus and from there they took a lift to Malegaon. They then took a train to Jhansi and then proceeded to Lucknow.”

Assistant police inspector, Yashwant Fulwade, said on reaching Lucknow they resided at a lodge. “But Ashish felt insecure there and took on rent a room in a slum area. In the last week of November, we came to know that Ashish is residing in Lucknow. So our team reached there and we took the help of the UP STF and started a manhunt.”

A case was filed on Thursday against Ashish at Warje Malwadi police station under the relevant sections of Indian Penal Code, 1860, for kidnapping. “During investigation, Ashish revealed that some of his friends supported him, so we are searching for them,” Fulwade said.

Man arrested for highway robberies

Acting on a tip-off, the anti-dacoity cell of the Pune police arrested a man, Pramod alias Pappu Rajguru (30), for allegedly robbing commuters on the Mumbai-Bangalore highway by restraining the victims and threatening them with sharp weapons.

A case was registered with the police about a robbery that took place at Sarowar Hotel on the Mumbai-Bangalore highway recently.

Police inspector Ram Jadhav laid a trap near the hotel and arrested Rajguru, who was at large for many days. The suspect is a resident of Nehrunagar in Pimpri. The police have recovered eight cellphones and two wrist watches from him.

The police have launched a manhunt to nab his accomplices, Vishal Nikalje, Kishor Koli, Siddhu Kamble and Sunil Borge, who are wanted in several cases of two-wheeler thefts. During the investigation it was revealed that Rajguru was also involved in seven cases of vehicle theft.

Four killed in highway mishap
Four persons died in an accident on the Pune-Bangalore National Highway-4 at Kelavde Chowk, Bhor, on Friday at 6 am. The victims have been identified as a 40-year-old motorcyclist Nanashaheb Bhimrao Hazare, a resident of Mohannagar in Chinchwad; Vijay Jadhav, a resident of Samarathnagar of Pune; Reshmi Lingadhe and Vasantrao Lingadhe.

The superintendent of Pune (rural), Pratap Dighavkar, said the accident took place when a Swift car was trying to take a u-turn on the road.

“A truck hit the car from behind, which in turn knocked down the motorcyclist. Another truck coming from the opposite direction also dashed the motorbike and the car,” police officials said.

Hazare, who was not wearing a helmet, died on the spot.

The other three victims travelling in the car were rushed to a hospital, where they were declared dead.

Former cop held, released on bail
The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) late on Thursday arrested a retired assistant commissioner of police, Mohammad Chand Mulani, for acquiring property disproportionate to his income.

The ACB had recently filed a chargesheet against him in this connection. Mulani was released on a surety of Rs25,000 soon after he was produced before the additional sessions judge JD Kulkarni.