Pune: The sound of firing shattered the calm and caused panic in a lane near Abhinav school off Law College Road around 2.30am on Tuesday as six men, suspected to be sandalwood tree thieves, tried to snatch a police constable's pistol after attacking him with a hacksaw blade.
Though two rounds were fired during the scuffle, the six men managed to run away from the spot.No one was injured in the firing. Police constable Mahesh Tambe sustained injuries inflicted by the hacksaw blade and was admitted to a private hospital in the Deccan area. His colleague, Ganesh Satav, escaped unharmed.
The incident occurred close to a nearly 90-year-old bungalow when two constables from the Deccan Gymkhana police on a night patrol spotted two men chatting on a motorcycle in the lane. The duo gave evasive replies when the constables asked them what they were doing there.
Just as Tambe told the two men to leave the place, they yelled something. Within a few minutes, four men emerged from the iron mesh fence of the bungalow. They charged at the constables and attacked Tambe with the blade.
Deputy commissioner of police (Zone I) Sandeep Singh Gill told TOI, "The attackers grabbed Tambe and assaulted him with the sharp weapon. Tambe managed to duck and evade the first blow. But the attackers struck him a second time when he put his hand up to avert injuries to his head or shoulder."
He said, "Satav managed to grab two of them. The attackers tried to grab Tambe's pistol soon after he pulled it out in defence. In the scuffle, the first round got fired in the air. The attackers started running away and the constable fired another round at them, targeting the tyre of their motorcycle. They had come to the spot on two motorcycles. The bullet missed the target."
The constables then reported the matter to senior inspector Girisha Nimbalkar. A police team conducted a search on Law College Road, but failed to locate the men.
The bungalow was constructed in 1935 and has a large garden. Recently, the bungalow owner sold it to a builder. A site official told TOI, "We shifted some tin sheets and iron material into the bungalow to demolish it. We have not deputed any guard at the bungalow."
TOI visited the garden area of the bungalow on Tuesday morning and found two huge sandalwood trees. A guard at an adjacent residential society said, "I was asleep in the night and woke up after a police team visited the area. I didn't hear any gunshots." he said.
DCP Gill told TOI that the street lamps in the lane were not functioning for some reasons. "We will discuss the issue with Pune Municipal Corporation. Also, the lane does not have CCTV surveillance," he said.