Three Pune policemen killed after van plunges into gorge

Three police constables met with a tragic end after their patrol van rolled over and fell into a gorge during the wee hours of Sunday, near Panwadi, 45 km from Pune.

According to the Pune Rural police, Shashikant Raut, Avinash Dhole (both 52) and Ulhas Mayekar (50), attached to the Saswad police station were sent up to Davanewadi village for security deployment at an event attended by Minister of State Vijay Shivtare.

According to authorities, the trio was returning to Saswad police station. Officials have yet to ascertain what caused the accident. While some say that Mr. Dhole, who was driving, may have lost control, others suggest the van may have collided with another vehicle before swerving and falling into the 300 ft gorge. All three policemen were died on the spot.

The control room of the Pune Rural police said they had lost contact for some time with the van after Saturday night.

“The vehicle was untraceable on the GPS system of the Pune Rural police. While it is not uncommon to lose contact in the Ghats of Junnar and Saswad, officials became worried after the van failed to respond to headquarters for several hours,” said Pune Guardian Minister Girish Bapat, who later visited the accident site.

Mr. Bapat said the State government would provide financial aid to the kin of the victims through the Chief Minister’s relief fund as well as ensuring employment for them.