Pune: A dispute over a firecracker has put a rickshaw driver in hospital and his daughter in the intensive care unit, and Samarth police station has registered a case of attempted murder.
Two men have been arrested: Vinayak Atish Kamble, 26, and Aryan Vijay Shinde, 18. The main accused, Sandesh Sanjay Jadhav, 30, and his other associates are named in the case and are still being traced, police said.
The sequence, according to the complaint filed by the rickshaw driver, Nitesh Girdhari Salve, began on Diwali. Salve was returning home with his wife and daughter after visiting relatives when a firecracker burst by Akash alias Rishi Ubale, a neighbour's son-in-law, damaged a wheel of his rickshaw. Ubale allegedly abused and hit Salve. The matter was closed at the time and everyone went home.
At about 1.30 am on 9 November, Salve was standing near Hope Hospital close to his house. Sandesh Jadhav, the neighbour's son, and three friends stopped there. According to the complaint, Jadhav told his friends that Salve had quarrelled with his aunt over firecrackers, and the group approached him and began beating him again.
Salve's wife, their two daughters and a nephew ran out on hearing the noise. In the confusion, Kamble allegedly drew a sharp weapon and aimed at Salve's head. His 21-year-old daughter stepped in between and took the blow on her head. She collapsed where she stood, bleeding heavily.
Seeing her in a pool of blood, Jadhav and his associates left the spot, according to the complaint. The injured woman is being treated at Sassoon General Hospital.
Salve's complaint names Jadhav as the main accused. Police have registered a case of attempted murder and are looking for the men named in the complaint.
Nana Peth is one of the densest parts of the city, with narrow lanes, mixed residential and commercial buildings and a large nightly floating population. Firecracker disputes have been reported from several Pune neighbourhoods this Diwali.
What happens next sits with the investigation. Kamble and Shinde will be produced before a magistrate for remand, and police are looking for Jadhav and the others named in the first information report.
Another firecracker-related assault case was registered this week at the Airport police station in Viman Nagar, where three men were arrested over an attack with wooden sticks on Rose Garden Society road.