Pune's Law & Order Deterioration Due To State Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis' Neglect: Supriya Sule

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule criticised Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, also the state's Home Minister, for his "neglect" towards Pune, amid the deteriorating law and order situation in the city. The latest incident highlighting this situation is the Porsche crash case, where a 17-year-old child of a prominent builder allegedly killed two IT professionals with his speeding car on May 19.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the Baramati MP wrote in Marathi, "Students from across the country and even abroad stay in Pune for education. Apart from this, engineers from all over the country are working here due to the IT industry. Moreover, experts in various fields also give their preference to Pune. The city of Pune is also world-famous for its art and cultural events. However, the events that have taken place in the peaceful Pune, which is known as the 'home of education', in the last few days, are tarnishing the overall image of the city."

"Drugs seem to be easily available in the city. Koyta gangs and other crimes are on the rise. And now after the Kalyani Nagar incident, the law and order in the city has come into question. The fact that the State Home Minister himself had to station himself in the city is enough to convince the seriousness of the situation and highlight the failure of the government and the HM to maintain law and order. The HM is not paying attention to an important city like Pune. Therefore, crime is increasing here and it is causing trouble to the common people. The state home department needs to pay special attention to the city without wasting time. It is very important at present that the Home Ministry should try to improve the law and order situation here and give confidence to the citizens," Sule added.

Meanwhile, the NCP (SP) leader has also sought a white paper on the functioning of the Sassoon General Hospital as the involvement of two doctors and a staff member has come to the fore in allegedly discarding the minor's blood samples, taken after the accident, and replacing them with samples from another person whose blood contained no traces of alcohol.

“The hospital has been serving people for decades but recently there have been complaints against it. Last year Dr Ajay Taware (the alleged mastermind behind the blood swapping) was purportedly involved in letting drug lord Lalit Patil overstay in the hospital. Now there are allegations of swapping blood samples – all these complaints need to be investigated in detail,” said Sule. “At the same time, it is important to review the hospital’s performance – thus the government must come out with a white paper reviewing the hospital’s performance over the last five years," she added.

Earlier, Sule had expressed her surprise over Fadnavis rushing to Pune after the Porsche accident. "Fadnavis told reporters that police should not come under any political pressure. I want to tell him that those in power can pressure the police in such probes. My question to Fadnavis is who pressured the police and how despite such a heinous crime, the kid got bail," she asked. "I also want to know how NCP MLA Sunil Tingare intervened and helped (the boy) in getting bail. The state government is careless and insensitive. Be it drink and drive, drugs found in Pune or blasts in Dombivli MIDC, this government is not interested in solving issues," she said.