PUNE: An assistant
police
inspector and a constable narrowly escaped critical injuries as a man from Pimpri Chinchwad, caught for riding scooter in a drunken state, threw inflammable liquid and tried to set them ablaze around 6.30pm on Friday on the Faraskhana
traffic division
premises.
The constable and her colleague were fortunate that the lighter of
Sanjay Fakirba Salve
(32) did not work when he tried to ignite it.
He was later arrested. Originally from Jalna, Salve has been staying in Pimpri Chinchwad for the past four years.
MPCC
chief
Nana Patole
, who was in Nagpur, cited the
incident
to highlight the state's "deteriorating law and order situation".
Accused in police custody; booked under the BNS
The traffic police had intercepted Salve near Mazoor Adda on Shivaji Road while he was riding his scooter in an inebriated condition. Traffic constable Sameer Sawant lodged a complaint in this regard with
Vishrambaug police
in the night.
Senior inspector Deepali Bhujbal of Vishrambaug police said, “We arrested Salve under sections 132 (whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any person being a public servant in the execution of his duty) and 109 (whoever does any act with such intention or knowledge, and under such circumstances that, if he by that act caused death) of the Bharat Nyaya Sanhita. He was produced before a city court and remanded in police custody till Sunday.” She said, “Salve used to drive a water tanker in Pimpri Chinchwad.
He is currently unemployed.” According to the police, Salve was driving the scooter dangerously, with his friend riding pillion. Bhujbal said, “The traffic police stopped him and decided to conduct his medical test. This enraged Salve. He abused and challenged the police personnel at the chowk. When he kept hurling abuses at the police for almost 10 minutes, he was taken to the traffic division for further legal action.”
She said, “He abused the police personnel at the traffic division’s office also. After some time, he told the police that he wanted to have some water and left the premises. He returned within a few minutes with a 300ml bottle filled with flammable liquid, which we suspect to be petrol.”
Bhujbal said, “Salve first threatened to set the police personnel on fire. He then threw the liquid on the woman assistant inspector and the constable inside the traffic division’s office. Thereafter, he pulled out a cigarette lighter and attempted to set them ablaze, but it did not function. We suspect that he had held the lighter upside down. The police personnel at the traffic division overpowered him and called the police station.”
She said, “Salve came to Shivaji Road from Pimpri Chinchwad, but he failed to tell us where he was heading to and for what reason. We are questioning him to know from where he procured the fuel.”
A policeman at the traffic division on Saturday told TOI, “It was a scary event for all of us. A few days ago, one of our colleagues was suspended after he picked up an argument with a motorist. So, we did not retaliate to Salve’s abuses initially and kept mum. He took advantage of it and charged at us.”
MPCC president Nana Patole criticised deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis over the state’s deteriorating law and order situation. He highlighted the incident in Pune where a drunk scooterist tried to set two police personnel on fire, pointing to this as a reflection of broader issues with public safety in Maharashtra.
“The state of law and order under Fadnavis is such that even the police are not safe.
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