Pune: Police Commissioner Ritesh Kumar has taken decisive action under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against Sumit alias Lakhan Goud and his two accomplices, who instilled fear in the community by assaulting a young man in Keshavnagar. The incident occurred on November 5, 2023, at 7:30 PM, when the accused, armed with a pistol, assaulted a 21-year-old youth who had intervened to settle a dispute involving one of his familiar friends, Pravin Singh.
The gang leader, Sumit alias Lakhan Ravindra Goud (32), along with Siddharth Devidas Shawalkar (21) and Rahul Somnath Dhware (23), has been booked under IPC sections 307 and 323. Additionally, charges have been filed under sections 504, 506, and 34 of the Arms Act, Maharashtra Police Act, and Criminal Law Amendment Act. Shawalkar and Dhware have been arrested, while the primary accused, Lakhan Goud, is currently evading authorities.
The plaintiff, a resident of Keshavnagar, had gone to meet a friend when he witnessed the assault on Prvin Singh. Attempting to mediate, when he went to settle the dispute, he was attacked by the accused, with Dhware strangling him and Goud striking him on the head with the reverse side of a pistol. The plaintiff sustained serious injuries from the assault, and the accused further intimidated him by brandishing the firearm, threatening to kill him.
Sumit alias Lakhan Goud has a criminal record, with serious charges registered against him at Vimantal, Chandnagar, and Mundhwa police stations. The accused has been involved in offences such as attempted murder, illegal possession of arms, causing injuries, seeking revenge, orchestrating an illegal gang, and instigating terror through organised criminal activities. Despite previous preventive actions, the accused has continued to engage in such severe criminal activities.
In response to the escalating nature of the case, a proposal to include Section 3(1)(ii), 3(2), and 3(4) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999, was submitted to the Additional Commissioner of Police, Eastern Regional Division, Ranjan Kumar Sharma. After careful scrutiny, the Additional Commissioner of Police approved the inclusion of the offence under MCOCA. Ongoing investigations are being led by Assistant Commissioner of Police of Hadapsar Division, Ashwini Rakh.
The operation was executed by a dedicated team, including Senior Police Inspector Vishnu Tamhane, Police Inspector Crime Sunita Rokde, Assistant Police Inspector Sadashiv Gaikwad, Faujdar Abhay Kale, and Officers Hemant Zurunge, Rishikesh Tilekar, Ravindra Devdhe, and Vaibhav More, under the guidance of Commissioner of Police Ritesh Kumar, along with Additional Commissioner of Police Crime Ramnath Pokale, Additional Commissioner of Police East Regional Division Ranjan Kumar Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone 5 R Raja, and Assistant Commissioner of Police Ashwini Rakh.
