Assailants intercept car, gun down Shirur criminal

Pune: A criminal on police records, Vishak Kale, was shot dead on Monday evening after a set of assailants hit his car with their compact SUV to intercept him at Saradwadi village on the Karde Ghat stretch of Shirur taluka, about 78km from the city.

Five assailants got out of the SUV after it rammed Kale’s car and fired at his vehicle. As Kale stepped out and tried to flee, two more assailants surfaced on a motorcycle and fired at him as well as his two aides. The assailants bludgeoned Kale before fleeing together in another vehicle.

The Pune Rural police have constituted five teams to trace the assailants. Kale’s aide, Kedar Zadge (25) of Shirur, suffered a forehead injury in the attack and is undergoing treatment in a hospital. His another aide, Umesh Jagdale, fled the scene. He later went to the Shirur police and lodged a complaint.

Inspector Sandesh Kenjale of the Shirur police said a case of murder had been registered against Kale’s former aide, Sunny Yadav of Wagholi, and his six accomplices. “Prima facie, a dispute over money between Yadav and Kale led to the latter’s murder.”

According to Jagdale, he was travelling from Nhavara to Shirur in a car with Kale and Zadge on Monday evening. It was raining when they reached the Karde Ghat section around 5.30pm. A compact SUV coming from the opposite direction suddenly rammed their car, forcing them to stop.

“Five men got out of the SUV and fired four rounds at the windscreen of the car,” inspector Kenjale said. Kale and his two aides got out of the vehicle and ran to save themselves. Kale’s former accomplice Yadav, and the latter’s another aide allegedly arrived on a motorcycle and fired at the trio.

“Kale collapsed after bullets hit him. The accused then bludgeoned him to death with stones before fleeing in another vehicle. They left the SUV at the spot,” the officer said.

Kenjale said police recovered two empty cartridges and several stones from the crime scene.

Kale and Yadav had allegedly hacked former Shirur Municipal Council corporator Mahendra Mallav to death on Aug 28, 2016, following a dispute. The police had arrested Kale, Yadav and two others in connection with the murder. The duo were released on bail later.