Pune: A 20-year-old college student suffered a bullet injury in stomach on Friday afternoon when a man shot at him in his father’s store in the Pimpri Camp area. The student, Bhavesh Kakrani of Prem Lane in Pimpri Camp, is undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Pimpri. “Prima facie, it was a case of a robbery attempt. Bhavesh resisted the suspect when the latter tried to snatch his gold chain. We are investigating if there is any other reason behind the incident,” Shivaji Pawar, deputy commissioner of police (crime), Pimpri Chinchwad police, told TOI.Mohit Kodvani, the victim’s cousin, said Bhavesh was a second-year BCom student in a private college in Pimpri. His father runs a general store in Prem Lane in the Pimpri Camp area, located on the ground floor of a three-storied structure, where the family stays. “On Friday, Bhavesh’s father had to attend a funeral. Bhavesh had some spare time before his tuition classes. So, his father told him to be at the store. Bhavesh was in the store from 12.30pm,” Kodvani said, adding that he went to the store immediately after getting the news about the attack on Bhavesh.Former deputy mayor of Pimpri Chinchwad, Hiranand alias Dabbu Aswani, shifted Bhavesh to the private hospital. He came to know about the incident around 1.20pm on Friday. “By the time I reached the spot, the victim had walked to a clinic, a few metres away from his store. As it was not possible to treat him in the clinic, we decided to shift him to the hospital,” Aswani said.He said Bhavesh was in his senses. When asked about the incident, Bhavesh said a motorcycle-borne man wearing a helmet entered his store around 1.15pm, after conducting a recce of the area. “Bhavesh said the man tried to snatch his gold chain as soon as he entered the shop. After Bhavesh punched the man on helmet, he took out a silver-coloured firearm and fired a bullet towards Bhavesh,” Aswani said.He said the bullet hit Bhavesh below his stomach. The man then ran towards his motorcycle. Bhavesh picked up a stone and hurled it towards the man despite the injury. The stone hit the man on his helmet. “Bhavesh said the man still drove away. He could not see the man’s face because of the helmet,” Aswani said.An officer from the Pimpri Chinchwad police said the police recovered CCTV footage from the store and neighbouring establishments. “The attacker was wearing a raincoat,” the officer said. He said a case of attempted murder was being registered with the Pimpri police. “A team of the crime branch and police have been fanned out to trace the suspect,” he said.
