2 min readPuneMar 16, 2026 06:11 AM IST
The Pune rural police identified at least ten persons involved in the alleged attack on people from the Kondhwa area who had gathered near a lake in Askarwadi village in Purandar taluka of Pune district to break their fast (iftar) on March 13.
Additional Superintendent of Police Ganesh Biradar said, “A probe into the incident is on. We have so far identified ten suspects and a search is for them. Attempts are on to identify more assailants.”
An FIR in the case was lodged at the Saswad police station in Pune Rural based on a complaint filed by Feroz Sayyad (36), a resident of Kondhwa in Pune city.
As per the FIR, Sayyad, who runs a cloth stall in Pune Camp area, had gone to Askarwadi village along with his friends to break their fast, around 6.30 pm on Friday.
The FIR mentioned that over a hundred persons, some allegedly armed with wooden sticks and sharp weapons, arrived at the spot on several two-wheelers. They allegedly questioned Sayyad and his friends, passed objectionable comments and thrashed them, it is stated.
About six persons, who were injured in the incident, were provided treatment at a hospital. As per the FIR, around 100 to 150 unidentified persons were booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 118 (1), 189 (2), 190, 191 (2), 191 (3), 351 (2), 351 (3) and 352, along with sections of the Indian Arms Act. A team led by police Inspector Kumar Kadam of Saswad police station is investigating the case.
Villagers reportedly told the police that they have never seen people coming to the spot in Askarwadi for Iftar in the previous years and that there is no religious place here. However, activists of various groups have alleged involvement of Hindutva activists in the attack.
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Advocate Tosif Shaikh said, “No accused have been arrested yet. So we are meeting the Superintendent of Pune rural police on Monday. We demand that stronger sections of the law should be invoked against the assailants and they should be arrested soon.”
