In what is suspected to be a fallout of gang rivalry, a group of men shot a man in the head and then hacked him to death at a highway restaurant near Pune last evening. The dead man has been identified as 34-year-old Avinash Balu Dhanve, a property dealer.
The incident took place at a restaurant on Pune-Solapur highway, about 140 km from the city centre. Shocking footage captured by CCTV cameras at the restaurant in Indapur shows Dhanve and three others sitting on one of the tables.
A family of four, including two children, is seen eating at another table. Two men, one of them holding a plastic bag, walk in. They take their guns out and shoot Dhanve in the head as he is on the phone. They do not attack anyone else, and the three men accompanying Dhanve flee the spot.
Soon after, six more men come running into the restaurant and one of them hacks at Dhanve, who falls to the ground. Three more men start striking him with matchets as the family seated on the next table runs to the exit. As Dhanve lies motionless, the attackers rush out.
Police have formed five teams to investigate the murder. They said preliminary probe suggests that a rivalry between two gangs led to the killing.
