A 17-year-old boy was hacked to death and his 18-year-old friend was seriously injured in the broad daylight attack by three bike-borne assailants on Pune’s Bajirao Road on Tuesday afternoon. Police said the assault, with a kukri, was triggered by an old rivalry among local youths.
The incident happened in the area near Telephone Bhavan around 3 pm. The victims were identified as Mayank Kharare (17) of Sane Guruji Nagar in Ambil Odha and Abhijit Ingale (18) from the Dandekar Bridge locality. According to officials, the duo had stopped their bike briefly when the attackers arrived and started assaulting them using sharp weapons.
According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police Krushikesh Rawale, “The attackers came on motorcycles and attacked the victims with a machete and a kukri. Preliminary investigation suggests the attack was related to a past rivalry among youth. As of now, the deceased has no criminal background,” and the Indian Express reported.
Senior police officers and crime branch teams reached the spot soon after the incident and recovered the weapon used in the assault. Later in the evening, police detained three minors in connection with the case.
According to an officer with Khadak Police Station, the investigation is in process to identify the exact motive and sequence of events that led to the fatal attack.
