Police crack attack on former Maharashtra education board official; 2 held

PUNE: The Chandannagar police have arrested three men on the charge of brutally assaulting the state education board's former divisional secretary, Baban Dahiphale (60), with a sickle and robbing his cellphone.
The incident took place while former Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) official Dahiphale was at Chaudhary Vasti in Kharadi on September 4. At the time, Dahiphale was on his usual morning walk around 6.05am when the trio rode close to him outside Tuscan housing society and tried to snatch his phone while he was listening to news on it.
Senior inspector Rajendra Landge of the Chandannagar police on Monday said, "The robbery was captured on a CCTV camera and our informer helped us establish the identity of one of the trio, Vinayak Ahiwale. Following this, the suspect was taken into custody on September 23 and a sickle used in the crime was recovered. Ahiwale admitted to his involvement and revealed the names of his two accomplices, Vaibhav Gaikwad and Aditya Baddap. We later took the duo into custody and recovered a bike and two cell phones, including the one belonging to the victim, from them."
"All the three arrested men are aged 21 years and do small-time jobs. Ahiwale and Gaikwad reside in Mundhwa and Baddap in Kharadi. Gaikwad and Baddap got friendly while they were lodged in Yerawada jail, while Ahiwale is their friend. The trio committed the robbery to get fast money," said Landge.
Dahiphale, a resident of Shantinagar in Kharadi, sustained 20 stitches to the wounds on his right hand, when one of the trio dealt sickle blows as the victim tried to hold on to his phone before they managed to snatch it and drove away from the spot on a bike.
Inspector (crime) Ravindra Kadam, who is investigating the case, told TOI, "The trio's questioning revealed that Dahiphale had caught hold of Ahiwale, while Gaikwad attacked him with a sickle. Ahiwale is a first-time offender. Gaikwad is involved in an armed robbery case registered with the Airport police earlier this year. Baddap has two cases against him relating to theft lodged with the Khadki and Vishrantwadi police, also from this year."
At the time of the incident, police had observed that school and shops in the area were closed and although new housing societies had come up in the locality, there was no eyewitness to the crime.