In Brief — Pune

In the wake of recent shootouts and other underworld activities in Mumbai, Pawar said that the rumours had spread about these activities spilling over to Pune. However, he said, there was no cause for alarm and the police had been taking all necessary steps to maintain law and order.

Mentioning various gangs including those headed by the underworld dons Dawood, Amar Naik, Chota Rajan, the DCP said that these gangs operated in connivance with the local dadas. Citing the killing of the city builder Deepak Dev last year, the DCP pointed out that the extortionists had taken help from the local goons including Baba Bhosale and Rajesh Pillai. Investigations into the Sagar Ladkat murder case had revealed that the culprits from Bihar had taken help from city hoodlums Mushtaq and Majid Khan, he said while disapproving of the negative trend.

He praised the city police for arresting most of the gangsters involved in extortion rackets. He appealed to the people to immediately contact the police in case of a threat to the control room (tel nos. 626296, 622202), Police Commissioner (625396, 663592) or Deputy Commissioner, crime branch (626962/631898).

Milk racket
Pune: The police today arrested a gang of five involved in milk adulteration racket in Swargate area. A bakery owner was nabbed when he tried to make a quick buck by selling the adulterated milk at cheaper rates. The gang including Vishnu Bhandari (27), Raju Malyam (40), Krishna Uppam (18), Raju Yadav (18) and Ramalu Yadav (20) had been running the racket from plot no 38, Parvati Darshan which the police raided during the small hours on Saturday following complaints lodged by Prakash Dhere, a distributor for one of the branded milk pouches.