Pune Army officers Rampage attacked policemen

PUNE: Army officers and men from the College of Military Engineering (CME)  went on a rampage, attacked policemen, assaulted media persons, ransacked a police chowky and terrorised the public on Tuesday evening near the Alka Talkies.

The incident started when a woman traffic constable intercepted two army officers for riding two-wheelers on the Lakdi Pul where two-wheelers are prohibited till 9.00 pm

The officers abused the policewoman Sunita Borude and policeman Latif Maner who came to her aid. The armymen said they were officers and refused to show their driving licence.The officers then contacted their colleagues on their mobile phones and in a short while 30-40 of their colleagues, attired in shorts and track suits rushed to  the Sambhaji police chowky where the officers were detained.

“Meanwhile, the officers misbehaved with the cops, and broke a glass table top in the chowky,” a police officer said. A large police contingent had to be rushed to the spot to prevent rioting by the armymen, led by DCP (special branch) Makarand Ranade, DCP (zone I) Dnyaneshwar Phadtare and DCP (Zone IV) Sanjay Jadhav.

Senior Army officers also arrived at the spot to control their men who were indiscriminately attacking people and media persons and even snatching and breaking cameras.

 

Meanwhile, a large crowd which had gathered picked up courage and stopped the officers and soldiers from misbehaving further. Some of the more aggressive armymen were also thrashed. Police later handed over the detained men to the army officials. “Disciplinary action would be taken against them,” said Ramanuj Singh, second-in command of military police. It would be recalled that young officers from the CME had used explosives to ransack a mall in the city in the mid-90s after being denied entry.