Constable foils dacoity bid at Ekvira temple

An alert constable foiled a dacoity attempt at the Ekvira Devi temple in Karla early on Friday.

An alert constable foiled a dacoity attempt at the Ekvira Devi temple in Karla early on Friday. The dacoits managed to escape,but the constable,Subhash Kantilal Pawar,suffered head injury in the incident.

Around 2 am,a gang of more than 10 dacoits came to the temple and started pelting stones at private security guards and Pawar,who were deployed there. The four private security guards fled from the spot,but Pawar stayed on and opened fire on the dacoits.

Police said three private security guards were deployed at the temple by Archaeological Society of India and one by the temple trust. Pawar fired eight rounds from his self-loading rifle (SLR) and one bullet reportedly hit a dacoit who was trying to break the main door of the temple. At this,the dacoits ran away from the spot,taking their injured accomplice with them,a police officer said.

Pawar informed the Lonavala police about the incident. Immediately,a police team was pressed into action. Senior police officers,including the district superintendent of police Shahji Solunkhe and additional superintendent Ramnath Pokle,visited the temple. About 150 policemen and local villagers carried out a search operation in Lonavla,Khandala and Kamshet,but could not trace any of the dacoits.

Meanwhile,Pawar was admitted to Parmar hospital in Lonavala. I am glad that I could foil the dacoity bid at the temple, he said.

Ekvira Devi Temple is an important pilgrimage for the Koli community in Maharashtra.

Uddhav Thackeray,executive president of Shiv Sena,visited the temple on Friday morning. Thackeray said the government should step up security at important religious sites. He also visited constable Pawar at the hospital and appreciated his brave act. Inspector Mohan Jadhav of the Lonavala police is investigating the case.

Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories