Pune: Within 16 hours after a lawyer was shot at on Sangamwadi Road on Monday night, the Crime Branch of Pune city police on Tuesday nabbed a man and his minor accomplice in the case. The police said the incident was the fallout of the lawyer not returning Rs two lakh fees though the case was settled out of court.
The injured lawyer, Devanand Dhokne (42) of Yerawada is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Koregaon Park. The arrested accused was identified as Kurumdas Kaluram Badhe (33), a resident of Kalus in Khed taluka of the district.
The incident took place at 8.30 pm on Monday, when Dhokne was returning home from the court. Two persons on a bike came from behind his car and one of them shot at him, when the car slowed down at a speed breaker. The accused fired two rounds and fled. Dhokne’s brother who was driving the car, rushed him to hospital.
Senior police officials reached the spot and teams were dispatched based on various leads in the case. Policemen Sachin Jadhav and Shrikant Waghvale received a tip-off that the accused were fleeing via Nashik Road.
DCP (Crime) Shirish Sardeshpande said, “Police Sub-Inspector Dinesh Patil and his team members from Unit 1 received information that the accused were hiding in fields in Dondegaon in Khed taluka. Accordingly, we searched the fields and nabbed the duo.”
Senior Police Inspector Nitin Bhosale Patil, in-charge of Unit 1, added, “Badhe had fired two rounds from a country-made pistol, while his minor accomplice was driving the motorcycle.”
The police said there was dispute between Badhe and his cousin related to a land parcel. Badhe had approached Dhokne who had demanded Rs 2 lakh as fees. As he did not have money, he got some land transferred to Dhokne. Later he gave him Rs two lakh also.
However, as the case was settled out of court between Badhe and his cousin, Badhe asked Dhokne to return the land and Rs two lakh. Dhokne transferred the land back but allegedly did not pay the Rs 2 lakh even after three years. Badhe got the pistol from Meerut and planned to teach Dhokne a lesson and fired at him, the police said.