Pune Crime Files: Why Bombay HC quashed FIR against ex-serviceman ‘falsely implicated’ in intruder death case
In 2020, a former Army officer in Pune called the police for assistance after a man attempted to break into his home. The police, however, charged him with the intruder's death. In 2025, the Bombay High Court set aside the FIR against him.
The intruder was found dead in a well near the ex-serviceman's house (Image generated using AI). Nearly six years ago, one midnight, a man was held and handed over to the police after he was spotted entering the bungalow of a 68-year-old retired Indian Army officer in Pune. But within eleven hours, the man was found dead in a well in the Mundhwa area.
About 44 days after the incident, the Pune city police lodged an FIR against the ex-Army officer for allegedly thrashing the man trying to enter his bungalow with a bamboo stick, causing his death. But the Bombay High Court quashed the FIR and slammed the police, saying the allegations made against the ex-serviceman are “untenable, baseless, absurd and inherently improbable”.
According to court records, around 12.45 am on August 20, 2020, a man entered the compound of the former Army Captain’s bungalow in the Wadgaon Sheri area of Pune city. The intruder allegedly knocked on the door of the bungalow, saying some people were following with the intention to kill him and that he should be saved.
The intruder then allegedly tried to enter the bungalow aggressively, breaking the kitchen window. The ex-serviceman allegedly resisted the intruder by pushing him away with a bamboo through the window grill.
The ex-serviceman also called his nephew for help and informed the police. Meanwhile, upon hearing the commotion, people in the area gathered at the spot. The intruder was allegedly thrashed and handed over to the police around 1.18 am on August 20. The police then took him to the Chandan Nagar police station.
The police found out that the intruder, a native of Latur district, had been taking treatment for a mental illness. As requested by the police, the ex-serviceman did not lodge a complaint against the intruder. The police decided to send him back to Latur.
Intruder found dead in well
Accordingly, when the police from Chandan Nagar police station were taking him to Hadapsar for boarding a bus to Latur, the intruder started vomiting on the way. The police left him on the Mundhwa bridge. And then, after a few hours, he was found dead in a 25-foot-deep well located nearby.
A team from the Mundhwa police station reached the spot and took the intruder’s body to a hospital for a postmortem. As per the legal procedure, an accidental death report (ADR) was lodged at the Mundhwa police station and a probe was initiated to confirm the cause behind the incident.
According to the postmortem report, the intruder was pronounced dead around 11.45 am on August 20 due to multiple injuries, nearly eleven hours after he had tried to forcibly enter the Army ex-officer’s bungalow in Wadgaonsheri.
FIR against ex-serviceman
Still, the police lodged an FIR at the Chandan Nagar police station on October 4, 2020, against the ex-serviceman, under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), holding him responsible for the intruder’s death.
The police alleged that the intruder succumbed to internal injuries allegedly inflicted by the ex-serviceman with a bamboo stick. The police also claimed that he was getting hallucinations that someone was trying to kill him.
The ex-serviceman filed a petition before the Bombay HC seeking quashing of the FIR against him, claiming it to be a false case. On December 24, 2025, the HC passed an order in favour of the ex-serviceman and quashed the FIR.
Court points to possibility of injuries during fall
The HC observed that the incident took place in the middle of the night. The intruder was aggressive and destructive, so the ex-serviceman has “rightly acted in self defence” and his response was “proportionate and measured”.
The HC observed that he called his nephew for help, who, in turn, informed the police. The HC pointed out that the CCTV footage shows that the assault on the deceased was made by the members of the public and the police themselves. No steps were reportedly taken against people from the mob who thrashed the deceased, it noted.
The HC also pertinently noted that after being handed over to the police, the intruder was not in contact with the ex-serviceman till his death. The order also mentioned the possibility that the intruder may have sustained injuries due to falling into the 25-foot-deep well.
Setting aside the FIR against the ex-serviceman, the HC stated that he had been “falsely implicated by the police in attempting to cover up their own lapses and abdication of duty”.
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