Why are vehicle vandalism cases surging in Pune, with minors making up a third of the accused?

In the first week of February, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar slammed the police over frequent such incidents and even advised the police to parade the accused so that they know the power of the law.

Data-driven policing effort

One of the first results of the study was identification of key hotpots for cases of vehicle vandalism. Police identified that of the 89 cases reported in 2024, majority cases came from Sahakar Nagar, Parvati, Yerawada, Hadapsar, Kondhwa and Wanawadi police jurisdictions. “Our analysis showed that some areas had become hotspots for cases of vehicle vandalism. Thus based on the data, some key steps will be taken in these areas to prevent these crimes,” said Shailesh Balkawade, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime).

While the jump from 35 in 2022 to 89 in 2024 was concerning, what was more worrying was the percentage of minors among the accused. “Of the total 156 accused identified in 89 cases in 2024, 52 were minors — a third of the total perpetrators. In the current year, of the 16 accused in nine cases, seven are minors, which is over 43 per cent. We have also found that almost 95 per cent of these minor accused had no criminal records prior to the vehicle vandalism cases they were booked for. Further, of all other adult accused, only 25 per cent had prior criminal records,” said Balkawade. “This data has some crucial takeaways,” he added.

Takeaways from the analysis

“We also analysed the reasons behind these acts of vandalism. A significantly large number among these miscreants were those who wanted to establish their influence in the area or in the local criminals groups, kind of an initiation into the local criminal gangs. This motive was primarily seen among those who had absolutely no criminal records. The people whose vehicles were damaged had nothing to do with them but the motive behind these acts of vandalism was to spread terror among the local population. Primarily majority of these incidents have taken place in residential clusters of lower income groups,” said Balkawade.

Analysis revealed that another large chunk of miscreants were those who resorted to vandalism just as an act of mischief and most of the times under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A small percentage of the accused went on rampage as a fallout of a one-sided love affair, police have found out.

Stringent action and trust building efforts

As a key preventive measure against these crimes and to send a strong message to perpetrators, the police have 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 MPDA or Gunda Act. “We believe that preventive detention under the MPDA will act as a strong deterrent against these crimes,” Balkawade said. Local police stations undertake counselling sessions for the minors to dissuade them from resorting to criminal acts.

Balkawade added, “As part of the multi-pronged approach, local police units have been asked to conduct what we call ‘corner’ meetings. These will be assemblies of locals in hotpots of these crimes. These meetings will not just act as a key trust building effort but also as a key source of action-oriented intelligence on the miscreants active in the area.”