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TOI : PUNE: About 5,500 people living in slums and low-lying areas within the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation limits were evacuated on Monday, following incessant rain in the past three days.

The authorities moved 2,523 slum-dwellers to makeshift camps in different municipal schools in Pune while at least 3,000 people were taken to safer places in Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Speaking to reporters, Praveen Ashtikar, officer on special duty at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), said, “Slums in Shantinagar and Indiranagar (Yerawada), Patil estate and Gandhinagar slums have been affected the most. On Sunday, more than 300 families were shifted, while on Monday another 100 families were moved out,” said Ashtikar.

The PMC has established makeshift camps in municipal schools, including Bopodi school, Ghate school, Dr Ambedkar school and Nanasaheb Parulekar school. A press release by the civic body stated that the local corporators and organisations are making provisions for food and other necessities for the affected. A special team has been formulated for evacuating people in case the situation worsens in other slums along the river banks.

The PMC has opened a 24×7 flood control cell at the corporation headquarters and at Katraj. Citizens can call for information and assistance on the following numbers: PMC flood control cell: 020- 25501130, Katraj flood control cell: 020- 24370154.
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TOI : PUNE: Notorious goon Robert alias Rahul Raju Salve (28) of Otta scheme, Nigdi, who was involved in 42 cases of robbery and murder, was killed in a police encounter at Indarayaninagar in Bhosari on early Monday morning.

Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Anil Kumbhare said that a trap was laid and Salve was asked to surrender, but he fired four bullet rounds on the police and got killed when the police retaliated.

Constable Suhas Kakde got a bullet in his arm and is undergoing treatment at the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial hospital in Pimpri.

Earlier, the sleuths of the anti-dacoity squad and anti-extortion cell of the crime branch, Pune, received a tip-off that Salve and his accomplices were planning to loot a toll post at Moshi in the wee hours of Monday. Inspectors Ram Jadhav of anti-dacoity squad and Kishore Jadhav of anti-extortion cell laid traps near Moshi Toll post and
near a water tank in Indrayaninagar.

At about 5.50 am, the police spotted two men hiding behind the water tank at Indrayaninagar. When the police identified themselves and asked Salve to surrender, he fired four bullets at them. Constable Kakde got injured in the firing. The police retaliated, in which Salve too got injured. His accomplice fled the spot on a motorcycle. Salve and constable Kakde were taken to Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial hospital at Pimpri, where Salve was declared brought dead. He was hit by two bullets in his chest. The police have recovered one country-made pistol belonging to Salve and four empty cartridges from the spot.

Salve was involved in many crimes since 1996. Last week, police inspector Mohan Mohadikar of unit (iii) of the crime branch had arrested Salve and recovered a pistol and three live cartridges from his possession. He was released on bail, just two days before. Salve also has two cases registered against…More

TOI : PUNE: Additional sessions judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi on Monday sentenced an Osmanabad-based irrigation department employee, Laxman Ramrao Takale (45), to two years’ rigorous imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 2,000, for subjecting his wife, Anita, to cruelty in 2005.

The court acquitted Takale’s brother Vinayak and sister-in-law Chandrakala, of Chatushrungi, due to lack of evidence. Takale faces an additional imprisonment of two months if he fails to pay the fine. The couple had got married on May 11, 2004.

According to additional public prosecutor Vijay Phargade, Takale started harassing his wife soon after their marriage for not bringing Rs 50,000 from her parents for purchasing a motorcycle. Phargade said Takale and others had tried to kill Anita by pouring kerosene on her on January 14, 2006.

Takale was arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim, who was fed up with the physical and mental harassment. The Chatushrungi police had arrested Takale and others under sections 307 and 498 (a) of the Indian Penal Code for attempting to kill Anita and subjecting her to cruelty.

Anita in her earlier statement had said that Takale had only poured kerosene on her, but in her supplementary statement, which was later recorded by the police, she accused her husband and Vinayak and Chandrakala of attempting to set her ablaze. However, the court absolved Takale of the murder charge on the ground that the victim was not set ablaze even after kerosene was poured on her, but found him guilty of ill treating Anita.

The prosecution, who was assisted by lawyer Khanderao Tachale, examined seven witnesses to prove the guilt of the accused.

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TOI : PUNE: The Maharashtra police will soon get 56 dogs, trained in the detection of narcotics. The state criminal investigation department (CID), Pune, has prepared a proposal to increase the number of dogs (German Shepherds) from 1 to 56.

The proposal has been prepared on a request made by the state government, according to additional superintendent of police Rajaram Chavan, the CID’s dog training centre in charge.

The proposal will be sent to the office of the state director-general of police, Mumbai, for approval after receiving the green signal from the CID special inspector general of police Meeran Borwankar.

Chavan explained that the various police units in the state will purchase the dogs (puppies) as per their requirement and send them to the dog training centre in Shivajinagar.

The dogs then undergo nine months’ rigorous training in order to be able to detect different drugs, Chavan said.

Narcotic detecting dogs are able to detect marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines. The dogs are trained on each drug one at a time until they are able to successfully find the drug.

When the dog locates the drugs, it sits quietly and stares at the location (no pawing or digging at the drug’s location is permitted). The dog handler then interprets this passive behaviour as a drug find. According to CID officials, the dog is rewarded for each find. The dog is trained only in detecting the odour of the drugs, and not encouraged to come into physical contact with the narcotics. In the 1990s, the state police had four such dogs, but all of them have subsequently died.

In 2007, the state director-general of police had approved a proposal of the Pune police during the tenure of former CID additional director-general of police Jayant Umranikar to purchase a canine to detect narcotics, in view of the forthcoming Commonwealth…More

TOI : PUNE: The 22-year-old IBM call centre employee, who was allegedly gangraped and is undergoing treatment at the Sassoon general hospital, has been referred to a psychiatrist to help her recover from mental trauma.

Deputy superintendent of police (Haveli division) Ravindrasinh Pardeshi, who is heading the investigations in the case, told TOI that the police were still unable to record the victim’s statement as she continued to be in a state of shock.

Pardeshi said the police want to record her statement to verify the authenticity of the first information report (FIR) file by her boyfriend, Hansraj Brahmne. The police again interrogated several people, including IBM employees, on Monday, but refused to comment on the outcome, saying the inquiry was at a crucial stage.

The woman was allegedly raped by eight to ten men, suspected to be cab drivers, on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. The alleged gangrape was committed on a hill near Tukai Mata temple near Phursungi. The incident came to light after the woman’s boyfriend registered the FIR of gangrape against unknown persons at the Loni Kalbhor police station. Inspector Ravindra Rasal is investigating further.

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TOI : PUNE: Six persons including four women were killed in a freak car accident on Pune-Ahmednagar highway while 50 students had a narrow escape when their mini-bus fell in a gorge, police said.

The mishap occurred last night when the Maruti car in which the victims were travelling rammed into a stationary truck along the road near Ganesh temple of Ranjangon.

In a chain reaction, a tempo and a motorcycle following the car at a high speed ploughed into the vehicles contributing to the impact of the collision, they added.

In another mishap on Sunday, around 50 students of a private coaching class, on a picnic to Bhimashankar, one of the 12 holy Jyotirlingas near here, had a miraculous escape when the mini-bus in which they were travelling plunged into a 50-foot gorge while climbing a steep stretch on way to the hill-top temple, police said.

As the bus hurtled down, it got stuck in a dense cover of trees that suspended its downward slide into the ravine. People from nearby village summoned help and despite difficulties in rescue work due to rains and smog, the children were brought to safety.

Two teachers accompanying the students sustained injuries and were admitted to hospital, police added.
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