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indianexpress:  A TINY hamlet of 25 houses — some one-and-a-half kilometres from Loni Kalbhor off Pune-Solapur Road — has emerged as a major source of illicit liquor for the city.

This startling fact about Pandharsthal came to light on Friday when Vishwas Nangare Patil, the District Superintendent of Police raided the hamlet and recovered chemicals, brewed liquor and vehicles being used to transport the liquor and other equipment estimated to be worth around Rs 30 lakh. The police had to use an excavator to destroy the liquor dens.
 
Nangare Patil said he received a tip-off about large-scale bootlegging through discussions with police patils from neighbouring villages while he had gone visiting the Loni Kalbhor police station recently. Patil said a majority of the adults living there were involved in brewing illicit liquor.

Acting on the tip-off, Nangare Patil set out on a raid early on Friday with a team of 100 constables apart from Inspector Ravindra Rasal, Assistant Inspector Raghunath Jadhav, Assistant Inspector Bhal Singh and Sub Inspector Shahaji Pawar.

According to a raider, the stink of brew was so strong from a distance of at least one-and-a-half kilometres even though liquor dens were located at a secluded spot along the Mutha right bank canal.

Spotting the approaching policemen, bootleggers fled from the spot only to discover later that their dens had been destroyed. A case has been filed against 40 people. Nangare Patil claims to have found 1.25 lakh litres of raw material, 935 liters of brewed liquor and a jeep used to transport the liquor. The raids went on for over five hours.

indianexpress: A MAN of intelligence and a master of languages, that in short is Pune’s new police commissioner Jayant Umranikar who will replace the incumbent, D N Jadhav, who moves to Mumbai to head its police force.

“Improving traffic situation in the city is my top priority,” he said. Having born and studied in Pune, this IPS officer of 1973 batch, has spent over 12 years working abroad.

“This is the cultural capital of the State and my attempt will be to conserve Pune’s cultural heritage. The city has been a seat of education and utmost efforts will be done to maintain piousness of educational institutions,” he promised.

Umranikar said his thrust would be on curbing goondaism in the city, ensuring safety of senior citizens and increasing police presence in the outskirts that are developing rapidly. Another item on his agenda is to introduce medico legal van service of the police to ensure that mishap victims get medical aid in time. Umranikar had launched the service when he became the police commissioner of Nagpur in 2003. The van tours around the city and on receiving tip off about a mishap, rushes to the spot and shifts the victim to hospital.

“This helps on two counts, firstly the victims get timely help and secondly since the victims are taken to hospital by policemen they get immediate treatment there,” he said. He wants to launch the service in Pune in view of the number of accidents taking place here.

A student of Fergusson College, Umranikar did his MSc from Pune University. He has also done a course in Russian and has worked in Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Thane and Satara.

Umranikar has also worked in various countries in Africa, Asia and Europe and knows a number of languages. He is known for using his linguistic skills for better communication with people. He is known for his expertise in international communication, terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism and nuclear issues

indianexpress:  THE Pune Municipal Corporation has requested local citizens to be watchdogs and check any tree-felling activity in the city on the occasion of Holi. The PMC has appealed to citizens, environmentalists, NGOs and volunteers to keep an eye on the illegal cutting of trees and intimate the civic garden department at 25538553 or 25532514 or inform the nearest police station.

The PMC has also issued a list of instructions to be followed while celebrating Holi Dhuliwandan on March 4 and Rangpanchami on March 9, which include using natural colours, avoiding the use of harmful chemical colours, consulting doctors immediately after experiencing discomfort, avoiding the burning of garbage.

Meanwhile, the Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) will celebrate its 57th Foundation Day by announcing housing schemes for its employees, computer training for their children, new depots. The announcement of these schemes was made by PMT committee chairman Bhimrao Patole who said there was a need to encourage employees to improve the transport body’s service. “The housing scheme, for instance, will ensure an employee’s social security and urge him to work for the PMT,” Patole said.

There’s good news for commuters too — all PMT buses will now have radio services.