In yet another attack on municipal officials, hawkers assaulted a team from the Pune Municipal Corporation's encroachment department while they were removing vegetable sellers sitting on the footpath in Ramtekdi–Sayyadnagar on Tuesday.
The hawkers pelted the officers with stones and iron weights, resulting in serious injuries to employee Nikhil Ingle. Municipal vehicles were also damaged during the incident.
Kiran Shinde, 31, Assistant Encroachment Inspector, filed a complaint at Wanowrie police station. Based on this, police have registered a case against Sohail Sheikh, Shahid Sheikh, and others. The incident occurred on Monday evening at around 7 pm on DP Road near New MHADA in Sayyadnagar.
According to police reports, the team had arrived in a municipal tempo to remove encroachments on the pavement. As they moved to clear hawkers selling fruits and vegetables from footpaths and handcarts, the hawkers resisted and attacked the team. Despite attempts by Shinde to explain, the hawkers continued their assault, damaging municipal vehicles and injuring the staff. Wanowrie police are investigating further.
