Pune: The Bharati Vidyapeeth police on Tuesday morning detained four minor boys for allegedly hacking a 17-year-old, who was also in conflict with the law, to death near Katraj Lake around 10pm on Monday.The detained minors and the deceased, who are all school dropouts, had been rivals for the past few months.Inspector Kailas Kodag of the Bharati Vidyapeeth police said, “The deceased had six cases of serious body offences registered against him since 2023. He had assaulted the detained boys a few months ago on several occasions. The suspects had been planning to kill him for three to four months.”The police also said that some of the minors involved in the murder also have cases of body offences registered against them. The police, however, have launched a manhunt to trace three more boys from the area for their alleged involvement in the murder.“The suspects were keeping a tab on the movement of the deceased. Around 10pm on Monday, they came to know that he was near Katraj Lake. They immediately gathered outside an eatery armed with billhooks and accosted him,” he said.“Within a few seconds, they attacked him nearly 30 times. The deceased suffered grievous injuries to his head, face and chest. After the assault, the boys fled the spot,” he said.Local residents alerted the police. The police then shifted the victim to a private hospital. He was later referred to the Sassoon General Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.Police said the mother of the deceased works as a domestic help. The parents of the detained minors are autorickshaw drivers, daily wagers and workers in other occupations.Action against police personnelA video of the Bharati Vidyapeeth police personnel parading minor boys on the bonnet of a police vehicle has surfaced on social media. The parade allegedly occurred on Tuesday afternoon.The video showed that the boys were being paraded on the bonnet of a police vehicle in the Bharati Vidyapeeth police station, and a woman then beat them up.Commenting on the parade, Milind Mohite, deputy commissioner of police (Zone II), told TOI, “We have ordered an inquiry against the police personnel involved in parading the minors on the bonnet of a police vehicle. Further action will be taken against them after the inquiry”.
