Pune shocker: Teenager accused in murder case fires two rounds in air to scare residents, detained with 3 aides

PUNE: A 17-year-old boy, who recently walked out of an observation home on bail in a murder case, was detained on Saturday with his three minor accomplices for allegedly firing two rounds in the air from a country-made pistol late on Friday night to intimidate people in Dias Plot before escaping with his aides.

The Swargate police detained the four minors from their hideout in Katraj and recovered the country-made pistol, which the prime suspect had procured a year earlier from an illegal weapons unit at Umrati in Madhya Pradesh — located on the Maharashtra-MP border. The location came under police scanner last Nov during investigations into the activities of the Pune-based Andekar gang.


Deputy commissioner of police (Zone II) Milind Mohite said all the four detained teenagers were aged between 16 and 17. "The prime accused lives with his parents, who are daily wage workers, in Dias Plot and got involved in a dispute with youths from a neighbouring lane on Friday night," he said.

According to Mohite, the minor learnt that a group armed with choppers was heading to attack him around 10.30pm. "He called three friends from different slum areas and waited near his house after retrieving the firearm. As a crowd began to gather, he fired two rounds in the air to keep people away. No one was injured. Moments later, his friends arrived on two-wheelers, and the group fled together," the deputy commissioner of police said.

Mohite said the four minors were involved in a murder case registered at the Sinhagad Road police station four months ago, in which they allegedly assaulted a youth from Kondhwa to death. "They were subsequently detained and sent to a boys' observation home. They are currently out on bail. None of them is pursuing school education," he added.

After questioning, the police recovered three country-made pistols and three bullets from the possession of the teenagers. "All the weapons were procured from Umrati (MP)," the police said.

Last Nov, police investigations showed that the city-based Andekar gang was procuring weapons from middlemen linked to manufacturing units in Umrati and selling them off. A joint raid was conducted by the MP anti-terrorism squad (ATS) and Pune police, following intelligence reports confirming the location of the illegal firearm units. The operation highlighted the extensive network involved in the illicit arms trade.

"Over 700 weapons were supplied from the village to different parts of Maharashtra," police said citing the investigations.