Pune: A misfire during a casual display of pistols between two criminals in Kondhwa left one injured, while an attempt to cover up the incident caused significant confusion and police activity overnight.
On Saturday (January 18) evening at around 9:30 PM, deported gangster Anil Chavan and criminal-on-police-record Pradeep Sawant were seated at Salve Garden in Kondhwa. Both were in possession of pistols and were showing them off to each other. During this interaction, a bullet accidentally discharged from Chavan’s pistol, striking Sawant and leaving him injured.
Instead of reporting the truth, Pradeep Sawant went to Silver Hospital in Narhe for treatment and falsely claimed that unidentified assailants had fired at him in Ambegaon. His statement led to teams from Sinhagad Road, Bharati Vidyapeeth Police, and the Crime Branch conducting investigations throughout the night in the Ambegaon area.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr. Rajkumar Shinde confirmed that Pradeep Sawant initially reported the incident occurred near Swaminarayan Temple in Katraj. However, when police found no evidence of such an incident, Sawant was further questioned. He eventually revealed that the shooting occurred at Salve Garden in Kondhwa.
Anil Chavan, a resident of Super Indiranagar, had been deported for two years due to his involvement in serious crimes, including property damage, attempted murder, and unlawful assembly, to establish dominance in the Bibvewadi area.
Pradeep Sawant is also a criminal with a history of offenses. The Kondhwa Police have recorded Pradeep Sawant’s statement and are in the process of registering a case.
