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Pune: Disguised as warkaris, cops arrest 55 for thefts, robberies

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Disguised as warkaris, dedicated teams of the Pimpri Chinchwad police have arrested 55 persons, including 12 women, suspected to be involved in petty thefts and robberies during the Palkhi processions. Officials said some of the suspects arrested are habitual offenders and have also recovered stolen valuables from them.

Meanwhile, as many as 17 offences of theft and robbery were registered on June 21 and 22 at Alandi, Dehu Road, and Dighi police stations in Pimpri Chinchwad jurisdiction.

Some of the 55 suspects arrested by the police are alleged to be involved in these cases.

A senior police officer said, “These suspects have committed these crimes in groups and
most are from rural areas Ahmednagar, Beed, Parbhani, Latur and Nanded districts of the state. They come from areas where farmers have low land holdings, agriculture is under irrigated and heavily dependent on rains. This is a pattern that we have seen in the past many years.”

This year, the Pandharpur Wari pilgrimage is taking place at full scale after a gap of two pandemic years. The two
key processions of the Wari — Sant Tukaram Maharaj and Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhis — have started their three-week journeys to Pandharpur on June 20 and 21 from Delhi and Alandi respectively. The two palkhis and thousands of devotees accompanying them are taking a rest in Pune on Thursday and would resume their journey to
Pandharpur early Friday morning.

On June 20, 21 and 22, as the Palkhis moved towards Pune and thousands of devotees walked along, dedicated teams of Pimpri Chinchwad police were deployed to keep a check on petty thefts, chain snatchings, robberies, and pick-pocketing. Dedicated teams were also deployed to keep an eye on eve-teasing.

Pimpri Chinchwad police commissioner Ankush Shinde said, “As part of the elaborate police deployment, separate crime branch teams were deployed on the routes of Sant Tukaram and Sant Dnyaneshwar Palkhis. Some of the personnel from these teams had disguised themselves as warkaris. During this deployment, some persons were checked based on primary suspicion. In some other cases, these teams responded to reports of thefts and arrested some suspects on the spot and also nabbed their accomplices later. Some were caught red handed.”

The teams deployed on the route of Sant Dnyaneshwar Palkhi arrested 37 suspects, including 11 women, and detained a minor suspect. Police have recovered stolen gold ornaments and cell phones from these suspects.

The teams deployed on Sant Tukaram Palkhi route arrested 18 suspects, including one woman. Among the arrested persons are four suspects from Rajasthan who are all in their early 20s and are alleged to be involved in multiple cases of thefts and robberies registered in Panvel.

Prior to the processions, the Pimpri Chinchwad police had taken preventive action against 160 criminals on its records.

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