Amid crime boom,action on cops

At a press conference last fortnight,DCP (Crime) Anil Kumbhare had sought to explain the low number of detections,saying most top investigators were working with the ATS in the German Bakery probe. Besides,police said,incidents such as murders out of petty personal disputes and suicides could not be controlled.

But Sunday’s gang shootout at Dattawadi was not the result of a petty dispute. The prime suspect in the shooting of Sachin Kudle,a member of the Gajanan Marne gang,is rival gangster Nilesh Ghalwal.

The police admit Ghailwal has escaped a recent crackdown. Under criticism following the Hinjewadi gangrape on April 1 and then the double murder at Karve Nagar,the police launched a preventive drive on April 22 and “took action” against more than 4,000 persons in six days.

The police have not traced Ghaiwal,on the run since he shot at Sumit Naik,also a member of the rival Gajanan Marne gang,at Kothrud on March 29. Police say that they have been searching for Ghaiwal,but he remains not only at large but also active; it is he who is suspected to have gunned down Sachin Kudle,also a Marne gang member,on Sunday.

On Monday,Addl CP (crime) A D Shinde said the gangwar was an isolated incident and cannot be termed as a failure of the police. He had no answer why the police failed to trace Ghaiwal during the preventive drive. “It is true that he was not traced. We should have traced him. Such criminals keep moving in and out of the city,” Shinde said.

On May 6,the presence of a huge number of policemen at the Shivajinagar court could not prevent the daylight murder of 25-year-old Rahul Nayar by members of a rival gang. Police had no forewarning about a possible showdown between the two Dehu Road-based groups at the court where they had gone for a murder hearing. An inquiry has been initiated against seven police officers who failed to act.

Jewellery shops were robbed on May 1 and May 8 of Rs 86 lakh and Rs 50 lakh respectively,one after drilling a hole in the wall at night and the other at gunpoint during daylight; both cases remain unsolved.