While Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar, at an event in February, stated that there was no existence of any "koyta gang" in the city, the disturbing trend of such attacks continues, and videos of them go viral on social media, creating a sense of fear in the minds of citizens.
One such video from Bibwewadi is going viral on social media. According to local media reports, the incident took place on April 17, and its CCTV footage has gone viral recently. In this case, Bibwewadi Police have arrested Suraj Bhise, Sumit Bhise, Aditya Pawar and Satish Pawar. Reportedly, all of them have a criminal history, and considering this, the court rejected their bail application. The police are conducting further investigation into the case to find out the exact reason behind the attack.
As seen in the video, some people are standing in front of a four-wheeler. In the meantime, one person takes a koyta from another person's hand and attacks a man from the opposite group. The victim runs to avoid the koyta's blow and loses his balance, falling to the ground. Despite this, the attacker continues trying to strike him with the koyta. Another man then takes the koyta from the attacker's hand and hits him. At the same time, a thrid person brings a flat stone and throws it. After that, both groups throw stones at each other and flee.
After the video went viral, NCP-SP MLA Rohit Pawar urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the state Home Minister, and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is also Pune's Guardian Minister, to take action. "When the issue of controlling the koyta gang in Pune was raised in the session, the government had said that the koyta gang did not exist… and look at the terror created by the koyta gang yesterday! The situation in Pune is getting worse day by day. This is a request to the Home Minister and Guardian Minister to pay attention," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
