‘What has happened to humanity?’: Pune retiree hit by auto, taken away by driver; dumped at secluded place to die | Pune News
PUNE: After withdrawing cash from an ATM near Balewadi Phata, just 500m from a hospital, 63-year-old Gopal Wagh was crossing the road to return home when an autorickshaw hit him on Sunday afternoon.As a crowd began to gather, the autorickshaw driver, under the pretext of taking him to a hospital, drove him to Range Hills and abandoned him in a secluded area. Wagh’s sons, who were searching for him, filed a missing person complaint at Baner police station later that night. The man was found dead by police on Monday afternoon.Police registered an FIR under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and sections of the Motor Vehicles Act against the driver on Monday.Senior police inspector Chandrashekhar Sawant said they traced the driver’s location to Uttar Pradesh and sent a team to catch him. “The auto was heading towards University Chowk from Balewadi when the accident occurred.”
What has happened to humanity? Balewadi Phata victim’s son asks
The incident raised questions about why no one from the crowd accompanied the injured senior citizen to the hospital. “My father was registered at Jupiter Hospital, just 600m away from the site of the accident, so that he could receive immediate care in case of an emergency. It was all for nothing,” said Amit Wagh (35), Gopal’s son, who works as a software engineer.He said if the driver had left his father there, the crowd might have helped him get admitted to a hospital. “I don’t understand why nobody went with him in the autorickshaw. Was it fear, lack of time, or just not wanting to be bothered? He might have survived. What has happened to humanity?” Amit said.Gopal Wagh is survived by his wife and another son who lives in Bavdhan.Amit said, “After lunch, he said he was going out to withdraw some money from the ATM and then would walk around a bit. When he didn’t return even after two hours, we panicked. I went to the ATM, where I saw his bike parked. When I asked around, people said there was an accident in the area. That is when I saw one of his slippers on the roadside and knew he must have been involved in the accident. He was crossing the road after withdrawing cash when the autorickshaw hit him.”While a missing person complaint was filed on Sunday night, Amit said police checked the CCTV camera footage the next day. “We went through the footage from 10am on Monday at the police station till the afternoon, but couldn’t locate him. Later that afternoon, we got a call from police saying a body was found, asking me to identify it. I went and it was my father,” said Amit, who, along with his brother, performed the last rites of their father on Tuesday.Police said the senior citizen worked at a law firm in Indapur before he retired and came to Pune with his sons, who work as software engineers. “He was severely wounded in the accident. When people crowded around the autorickshaw and pressured the driver to take him to a hospital, he agreed. But instead of taking him to a hospital, he went to Range Hills. Police followed the autorickshaw through footage of different CCTV cameras in the area. Then our staff inspected the area and found the body in a secluded spot near an old bungalow. It is suspected that he died in the autorickshaw,” Sawant said.Police said they could identify the number of his autorickshaw from the CCTV camera footage after he left Range Hills and drove towards Sangvi, where he rented a place. “He parked his auto and fled. His location has been traced to UP and our team has already left to nab him,” Sawant said, adding that the cash Gopal Wagh withdrew was found on him.
