Pune: The city police, in coordination with their Solapur rural counterparts, intercepted a private bus in Tembhurni of Solapur district and nabbed three men wanted in Sunday afternoon's billhook attack on an assistant police inspector (API) in Sasanenagar of Hadapsar. Later, two more accomplices were arrested from the city, taking the total arrests to five in the case. The police produced Nihalsingh Tak (18) and Rahul Singh Bohra (19), both residents of Tuljabhavani Vashat in Hadapsar, who carried out the attack, and their accomplices Amarsingh Tak of Shivajinagar, Anil Bansode and Suraj Bhandari, both from Mohammadwadi, before a magisterial court in Wanowrie.
The court ordered their custodial remand till Sept 4. API Ratnadip Gaikwad from Wanowrie police was on a patrol on his motorcycle when he spotted two parties quarrelling with each other in Sasanenagar on Sunday. When he intervened, Nihalsingh and Rahulsingh, who were accompanying one of the disputing parties, allegedly hit him on the head with a billhook and ran away.
Gaikwad was admitted to a private hospital with a deep cut wound on his head, and his condition is now reported as stable. Wanowrie police's senior inspector Sanjay Patange said Nihalsingh and Rahulsingh, who have previous criminal cases to their name, boarded a private bus from Hadapsar with Amarsingh to travel to Solapur. However, the police found out about their movement and sought Solapur rural police's help to intercept the bus at Tembhurni before taking the trio into custody.
Bansode and Bhandari were arrested later, following the trio's questioning. The assailants told the police that their accomplices had provided financial assistance and dropped them to Loni Kalbhor in private vehicles, from where they boarded the bus..
