Maharashtra police trooper opens fire in public, killing three; held (Lead)

Pune Jan 16 (IANS) Three persons were killed when a trooper with Maharashtra s Special Reserve Police Force posted on duty in Daund here allegedly opened indiscriminate fire in two public places here on Tuesday police said. He was arrested later.

According to the Pune (Rural) Control the SRPF jawan identified as Sanjay Shinde opened fire with his service revolver in Borawke Nagar and Morinagar Chowk areas.

He first fired at public in Morinagar killing two persons and barely 15 minutes later he opened fire in Borawke Nagar nearby where he felled one.

Later this evening based on his mobile phone location he was caught and arrested from adjoining Ahmednagar district where he had fled shortly after the incident.

A police team rushed to the firing spots while others sealed off all exits from Pune and scanned CCTVs railway stations bus depots and other places to trace him said Deputy Superintendent of Police Ganesh More.

The deceased were identified as Anil Jadhav Gopal Shinde and Prashant Pawar. There were no other casualties as panicked people ran helter-skelter to escape the bullets.

The trooper managed to give the police a slip and sped away on his two-wheeler to Ahmednagar from where he was planning to board a train.

The motive behind his action tentatively believed to be some financial disputes is being probed police said.

Police have seized Shinde s service revolver his motorcycle mobile phones and other things after the arrest said a senior police officer.

In a precautionary move police have deployed additional forces outside the trooper s home as a wave of anger swept among the people of Daund.

--IANS
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