Pune:
Four robbers not only managed to escape right from under the nose of the police, but before fleeing, they managed to give a sound thrashing to the law enforcers. In the early hours of yesterday, the Sahakar Nagar police received a call from control room informing them about some anti-social elements in a complex housing more than 200 flats on Satara Road.
A resident Darshan Salunkhe-Deshmukh (26) accompanied three policemen on patrolling duty to the seventh floor where the robbers had taken shelter. Little did they reckon the audacity of the robbers, who attacked the policemen with stones and iron rods and injured them grievously. Alarmed by this sudden attack, Constable Bharat More attempted to fire from his carbine but was attacked by one of the robbers. Assistant Sub-Inspector F S Kazi and Constable Santosh Borkar tried to overpower the robbers but to no avail.
3 grievously injuredDeshmukh, who had accompanied the trio, was also attacked with iron rods. The policemen and Deshmukh sustained grievous head injuries and received more than 10 stitches. "If ASI Kazi would not have covered me, then the robbers would have beaten me further," said Deshmukh. Deskhmukh has been admitted to a private hospital in Bibvewadi along with Borkar and Kazi who sustained severe head injuries and are undergoing treatment.
Police Sub-Inspector Arun Paigude, who reached the spot along with three other policemen in a vehicle, said he saw the robbers beating his men and running away. They were wearing shorts and T-shirts, he said.
"I shot once at one of the suspects, but he managed to run away," said Paigude. "We chased them towards the boundary wall on the right side which opens into a canal. While running way two of them sustained severe injuries. One was hit in the leg by a rod on the iron gate that passed through his leg and another sustained injury to his head in the brawl.
Eyewitness accountRajendra Shilimkar told MiD DAY that the robbers were carrying stones, locks and iron rods. The four them were of strong built. He added that they broke into three flats and one office. Shilimkar stays in the E-wing of a building where the robbers broke in.
"All I could do was just hear the noises made outside. Initially, I thought the police might have overpowered them, but when I came out I could not believe my eyes as it were the robbers who were beating up the policemen," said Shilimkar. Dr Nitin Bora who got Dehmukh admitted to the Rao Hospital told MiD Day that the thieves did not look frightened of armed policemen. Rajendra Bhapkar, friend of Deshmukh who stays in the same society, said: "Nothing seems to have foiled the courage of the robbers. There were four security guards and policemen who reached the spots within minutes after we called them. They continued to beat up the policemen and Deshmukh. The policemen on the other hand did not give them a good chase and the robbers just escaped into thin air. There was nakabandi in the entire area, still they escaped."