Constable dies in Pimple Saudagar hit-and-run incident | Case probe stalled as CCTV cameras were non-functional: Police

Both incidents had taken place in a span of four hours, between Sunday night and the early hours of Monday. In the accident that took place around 1.40 am on Monday near Bopodi underpass, constable Samadhan Koli, 44, was killed, and constable Sanjog Shinde, 35, critically injured.

Later during the day on Monday, based on clues pieced together from CCTV cameras Pune City police arrested the 24-year-old driver Siddharth Kengar who was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.

In the other incident, police head constable Sachin Vishnu Mane (48), who was posted with the Maharashtra CID, was killed after his two-wheeler was hit by an unidentified vehicle in Pimple Saudagar area around 10.30 pm on Sunday.

An officer who is part of the Pimple Saudagar case said, “We have not been able to identify the vehicle or the driver so far in the probe.

Since it was late in the night, we have not been able to track down any eyewitnesses who could give us details of the suspected vehicle.

Multiple CCTV cameras installed under the smart city project at the key traffic junctions have been found to be non-functional. We had sent teams to check CCTV footage from at least five cameras at the junctions at the road towards and from the accident spot. We have been told that these cameras are not functional. This has stalled the probe.”

Officials said that the issue has been raised with the Smart City project officials concerned in this case, as has been in the past.
When contacted, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal commissioner Shekhar Singh, who is also the chief executive officer from the Pimpri Chinchwad Smart City Ltd, said, “We will look into the matter.”

Meanwhile, Siddharth Kengar, the driver accused in the Bopodi case, was produced before a court in Pune and was remanded to police custody till Wednesday. “While the results of the blood alcohol test are awaited, the preliminary probe confirms he was under the influence at the time of the accident,” said an officer.

An investigation had revealed that the Swift car Kengar was driving is owned by a person named Mukesh Atwal, who had given it to a person named Robin to use. Robin and Kengar are friends and it has come to light that Kengar had taken the vehicle from Robin to take it out on a night drive. “We are investigating if there was anyone else in the car at the time of the accident and are also trying to trace Atwal and Robin,” the officer added.

“Constable Mane had been posted with the CID as a driver. He was on his way home after visiting someone at a hospital. We got information from some local residents and passersby who informed the control room about the accident. Mane hailed from Jejuri area in Pune district and lived at Spine Road area in Moshi with his family. He was posted at the Motor Transport Department of the Pune City Police and was assigned to the official vehicle of an officer of Superintendent of Police rank with the CID for the last four months. He is survived by his wife and two children'” said an officer from Sangvi police station.