Pune Crime Files: A love triangle, an iron rod attack, and a highway trap

In Pune's Hinjewadi area, a brutal crime unfolded in the corridors of a paying-guest accommodation, where young IT professionals and students resided. On August 6, an iron rod attack shattered the quiet atmosphere, resulting in the death of a 22-year-old man and leaving a young woman critically injured. This tragedy stemmed from a tangled love triangle between three youths.

According to the FIR, a 21-year-old woman arrived at the accommodation around 11 pm on August 5, seeking a short-term stay. She introduced the facility's newly appointed manager, Sagar Sahadev Gaikwad, as her boyfriend, despite him being in his first day on the job. Just four days later, Dinesh Mahadev Zambre, 23, arrived at the facility, claiming to meet Gaikwad, who was staying upstairs with his girlfriend.

Zambre directed the woman and Gaikwad to different floors. When Gaikwad confronted Zambre on the fourth floor, a confrontation ensued, during which Zambre allegedly attacked Gaikwad with an iron rod and also struck the woman critically. The police traced the crime's roots to Solapur, where Zambre and the woman had been in a relationship since their school days. They had both come to Pune to pursue Bachelor of Computer Applications degrees.

As bystanders attempted to corner Zambre, he pushed them aside and fled in a white multi-utility vehicle, leaving the scene of the crime captured on CCTV cameras. Gaikwad was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival, while the woman was admitted to an intensive care unit. Pimpri-Chinchwad police issued an urgent alert to the Pune Rural division to track Zambre's escape route back toward Solapur.

By intercepting the white MUV near the Uruli Kanchan police station along the Pune-Solapur highway, the police trapped the killer, who was subsequently handed over to the Hinjewadi police for further investigation.