Suspected of stealing pigeons, 19-year

Police have identified the deceased as Rupesh Dhanraj Shinde (19), a resident of Sanjay Gandhi Nagar, Borate Vasti, Moshi, Pimpri-Chinchwad, who was also into pigeon keeping.

An FIR was registered by his father Dhanraj Shinde (45).

A 19-YEAR-OLD youth was beaten to death with a bat by a group of people over a suspicion that he was stealing their domesticated pigeons in Hadapsar area of Pune.

Police have arrested four brothers for the murder.

Officials from Wanawadi police station said that around 3 am on Wednesday, Rupesh and his friend Ajay Ganesh Tingre stopped in Vaiduwadi area of Hadapsar to attend nature’s call.

Thereafter, they went near the pigeon boxes located in an open space along the canal, in front of Pawar Enclave Society.

But as they heard a dog barking, both of them started running away from the spot.

Five people nearby chased them.

“While running towards the main road, in front of Jeenmata Motors, Rupesh fell down.

There, the five persons assaulted him with a bat and also kicked and punched him, causing serious injuries and resulting in his death.

Based on the complaint, a murder case was registered.

Our probe suggests that both — the accused and victim — were into pigeon keeping.

The accused suspected that the victim was stealing their pigeon and assaulted him.

We have arrested four persons who are brothers,” said Senior Inspector Bhausaheb Patil of Wanawadi police station.

Search is on for the fifth suspect.

Police have identified the arrested as Gaurav Vijaykumar Majhi (22), a resident of Vaiduwadi and his brothers Sachin (23), Monu (26) and Bunty (18).

In the past, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad have reported multiple crimes arising due to disputes between owners of pigeon coops and pigeon keepers.

Cases of thefts of pigeons, fights between people who own pigeons resulting in cases of murder, and attempts to murder have been reported in the past.

In 2022, a 15-year-old boy from Moshi area of Pimpri Chinchwad was murdered with a sharp weapon by a group of his friends over suspicion of stealing pigeons.

In 2021, A 28-year-old man was brutally attacked with an axe by his step-brother following a dispute over releasing the pigeons in the coop owned by the latter in Chikhali area of Pimpri Chinchwad.