25 vehicles, including school vans, vandalised in Pune; police launch hunt for miscreants

In another incident that took place in Dhanori area of Pune on Wednesday evening, a 16-year-old teenager damaged at least four vehicles. The teenager was later caught by the local residents who also assaulted him.

On Wednesday night, the police registered an offence against the minor, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Pune has seen a concerning rise in incidents of vehicle vandalism. This had prompted the Crime Branch to conduct a thorough analysis of these cases based on data.

One of the first results of the study was identification of key hotspots for the cases of vehicle vandalism. The police found that of the 89 cases reported in 2024, the majority came from Sahakar Nagar, Parvati, Yerawada, Hadapsar, Kondhwa and Wanawadi police jurisdictions.

Of the 156 accused identified in 89 cases of 2024, one third — 52  — were minors, the police said.

The police also found that 95 per cent of these minors had no criminal records before the vehicle vandalism cases.

Further, of all other adult accused, only 25 per cent had prior criminal records. The authorities initiated a series of policing and sensitisation efforts in these areas in response to the study’s findings.

The police also intensified action against these miscreants under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug Offenders and Dangerous Persons Act, 1981, also known as the MPDA or Goonda Act.