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3 booked for distributing money for luring people to vote for NCP candidates in Baner

A non-cognizable offence was then lodged against Lingayat, Balwadkar and garage owner Rohit Uttekar under Sections 170 and 173 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

2 min readPuneJan 11, 2026 09:25 AM IST

The police conducted a search at Balwadkar's house in Balewadi area and seized Rs 1,03,050 cash. (File Photo)

A non-cognizable (NC) offence has been registered against three persons for allegedly distributing money for luring people to vote for candidates of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), who are contesting the civic elections from ward number 9 in Baner area of Pune city.

Police have identified the accused persons as Ganesh Sunil Lingayat, Rushikesh Bhagwan Balwadkar and Rohit Lakshman Uttekar.

According to police, senior police inspector Chandrashekhar Sawant of Baner police station received information over social media that two persons are distributing money to people at an automobile garage near Lakshmi Mata temple in Baner, luring people to vote for NCP candidates in ward number 9, on Friday. Accordingly, the police, along with flying squad members, reached the spot and nabbed Ganesh Lingayat. Election campaign material, along with Rs 1.5 lakh cash, were seized from a two-wheeler in his possession.

Police said the two-wheeler belonged to Rushikesh Balwadkar. The police conducted a search at Balwadkar’s house in Balewadi area and seized Rs 1,03,050 cash.

A non-cognizable offence was then lodged against Lingayat, Balwadkar and garage owner Rohit Uttekar under Sections 170 and 173 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Amol Balwadkar, who was with the BJP earlier, is now contesting the elections on an NCP ticket from ward number 9. After BJP denied him a ticket, he got upset and joined the NCP last month in the presence of NCP leader and Deputy Chief minister Ajit Pawar. BJP has fielded Lahu Balwadkar against Balwadkar, who was also keen on contesting the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections from Kothrud constituency. But the BJP had then fielded its leader and minister Chandrakant Patil from Kothrud.

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