Pune: Three minors hacked a 17-year-old youth from Ambil Odha Vasahat to death with billhooks and a kukri in full public view near Maharana Pratap Garden on Bajirao Road around 3.15pm on Tuesday.The Khadak police later detained the assailants, all minors aged 16-17 years. The police said prima facie old enmity led to the murder.Senior inspector Shashikant Chavan of the Khadak police said, “The victim, Mayank Kharare, and his friend (16) were going to Mandai on a scooter. Kharare was driving it. When they reached near the garden, the attackers, riding triple-seat on a scooter, hit their vehicle from the rear. Before the victim and his friend could realise what was happening, the trio started attacking Kharare with billhooks and a kukri. The victim suffered blows on his neck, face and throat. The assailants also attacked Kharare’s friend when he tried to save the victim.”The attack sent a wave of panic across the busy thoroughfare and came close on the heels of a similar daylight murder of an autorickshaw driver on Nov 1 at Yewalewadi in Kondhwa — fallout of a gang rivalry. The latest murder put a question mark on the city’s law and order situation, especially after the Sept 5 murder of Ayush Komkar, again arising from a gang rivalry.Kharare’s friend suffered injuries on his right shoulder and right cheek. He later lodged a complaint with the police and identified the attackers, from the same locality where the victim resided. Based on these details, the police traced and detained the attackers.The officer said the victim’s friend was terrified and managed to save himself by running away. He later called his friends and then went to the police station.“A team was immediately sent to the spot. By that time, Kharare’s relatives too reached there. We took him to Sassoon General Hospital, where he succumbed to injuries,” the officer said.Assistant police commissioner (Faraskhana division) Anuja Deshmane told TOI that the attackers were identified based on an eyewitness account given by the victim’s friend. “The trio are minors and school dropouts,” Deshmane said.She said the victim was also a school dropout. “The attack was the fallout of an old dispute between the victim and the accused. Our investigations are on,” she said.
