Man Shot in Head, Attacked with Knife at Pune Restaurant; Police Suspect Gang Rivalry

A 32-year-old man was killed after being shot in the head and stabbed at a restaurant near Pune in Maharashtra on Saturday. The whole incident was caught on CCTV inside Hotel Jagadamba near Indapur on the Pune-Solapur Highway.

The victim, Avinash Dhanve, had multiple criminal cases against him, and the police have obtained CCTV footage of the attack.

“We have identified eight assailants through the CCTV footage, and teams have been mobilised to apprehend them,” stated a senior official from the rural police in Pune.

“Dhanve, who had multiple cases against him, was shot at and hacked to death,” he said. A previous enmity with a rival group seems to be the reason behind the killing, the official said, adding that an investigation is on into the incident.

In the CCTV footage, two attackers can be seen approaching Dhanve, who was sitting with three others. Dhanve was on his phone when the attackers came up behind him. As they pulled out their guns and started shooting, the others at the table got up and left. More people joined in attacking Dhanve instead of chasing after them. Six people entered the restaurant with sickles and machetes and attacked Dhanve until he died. Other diners hurried out of the restaurant, while the attackers ran away, leaving Dhanve’s lifeless body on the ground.

The incident happened around 8 p.m. on Saturday, and because of Dhanve’s history, the police think it might be gang-related.

“The victim died on the spot. The police have cracked the case and the accused will be behind bars soon,” Pune Rural SP Pankaj Deshmukh said.

(With inputs from agencies)