An incident challenging the existence and supremacy of the police occurred in the Pundliknagar area, which has brought the gang war scenario to the fore again. Notorious goon Pawan Divekar, who was released from jail a month ago, opened fire in public. The incident occurred at the crowded Hanuman Chowk in the Pundliknagar area on Thursday at around 9.15pm. The entire area was terrorised after the gunshot incident.
Divekar’s relatives, Kunal Salve and Suresh Ranjane, quarrelled over petty reasons related to dancing in a procession two days ago. They had a severe altercation over the issue in the afternoon. However, both groups confronted each other on Thursday night at Hanuman Chowk. As the quarrel intensified, Salve made a phone call to Divekar and called him to the spot. Divekar entered the scene in a film-style manner with a bottle of beer in hand, abusing others. He then took out a country-made revolver from his waist and started quarrelling with Ranjane.
Later, Divekar went outside the crowd and took gutkha from a pan kiosk. However, as the opposite group continued shouting, Divekar lost his temper. He then went into the crowd and opened fire in the air. As soon as the shot was fired, people started running, and Divekar fired another round. Panic spread, and the miscreants fled from the scene.
On receiving the information, DCP Ratnakar Nawale, DCP Pankaj Atulkar, ACP Manish Kalyankar, and others rushed to the spot and conducted the panchnama.
While fleeing, Divekar and Salve openly challenged the police, saying, “What will the police do?”
Meanwhile, the police launched a combing operation and nabbed Salve immediately, but Divekar is still absconding. Divekar is a hardcore criminal and runs a gang named PD. He was arrested in a murder case in 2019. Around 19 cases have been registered against him at various police stations in the city. Last year, a video of him dancing on the road with a knife in his hand went viral on social media, following which he was arrested. He was released from jail last month but has resumed criminal activities in the Pundliknagar area. The incident has raised questions about the functioning of the police.
