The Pune Rural police made a significant breakthrough on Thursday by apprehending five members of a gang involved in the alleged abduction and extortion of a building contractor, from whom they extracted ₹1 lakh. During the arrest, the police also confiscated five country-made pistols and nine cartridges from the culprits.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Dilip Atole (46), the proprietor of a sand supply business, and his accomplices Ankur Pable (26), Dnyaneshwar Pable (25), Vishal Makar (23), and Nilesh Palaskar (35), all hailing from Shirur.
According to a police officer, on September 2, the gang forcibly took the contractor into their custody, physically assaulted him, and confiscated ₹5,000 from him. They also coerced him into procuring sand exclusively from Atole for his construction work, threatening to harm him if he didn't comply. Subsequently, the gang demanded a total of ₹10 lakh from the victim, eventually releasing him after extorting ₹1 lakh.
The contractor filed a formal complaint with the Shirur police following the incident. The five suspects had initially fled the district, but the police managed to apprehend them before they could escape to neighboring Madhya Pradesh. Ongoing investigations into the case are underway.
