Pune: Hadapsar police arrested Shivshankar Vaijanath Paralikar (21), a rickshaw driver residing in Shramik Vasahat, Karvenagar, on charges of molesting a female passenger.

According to the complaint filed at Hadapsar Police Station, the incident occurred on January 24 when the woman hired a rickshaw from the Hadapsar bus depot to Manjari.

Near the Serum Company road, the accused stopped the vehicle and attempted to engage in an obscene act with her. The woman’s loud cries for help caused the driver to flee the scene.

The Hadapsar Police launched an investigation and reviewed CCTV footage from the route between Hadapsar and Manjari. Based on the footage, the accused was identified, tracked down, and arrested.

The investigation was conducted under the leadership of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Dr. Rajkumar Shinde and Assistant Commissioner of Police Anuradha Udmale, with a team comprising Senior Police Inspector Sanjay Mogle, Crime Branch Inspector Nilesh Jagdale, and officers Amar Kalange, Arjun Kudale, Sandeep Rathod, Sameer Pandule, and Abhijit Raut.

Extortion Case

In the second case, the police arrested a habitual offender, Balu Bhimrao Doke (48), for extorting money from rickshaw drivers at the Hadapsar bus depot.

Doke, a resident of Vetalbaba Vasahat, Hadapsar, has a history of criminal activities and had been externed from Pune earlier. Upon his return after completing the externment period, Doke began threatening rickshaw drivers in the Hadapsar area, demanding ₹2,000 as a monthly extortion fee for operating at the bus depot.

A complaint lodged by a rickshaw driver revealed that Doke had broken the windshield of his rickshaw and brandished a sharp weapon to intimidate him. Acting on the complaint, the police traced and arrested the accused.