Pune: The members of the Suraj Thombre (ST)-gang chased police vans escorting members of the Andekar gang, accused of the murders of Ayush Komkar and Ganesh Kale, twice on July 23 and 28, leading to fresh trouble between the two groups.Crime branch officials on Monday lodged a complaint against five members of the ST gang with the Bharati Vidyapeeth police. The police then registered a case about the alleged chase and related incidents in the Katraj Ghat section.The officials suspected that the ST gang members conspired to eliminate gangster Krishna Andekar and his relatives while they were being escorted by police from the court to prisons in connection with a case registered under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).Following the murder of Vanraj Andekar, members of the Andekar gang allegedly retaliated by killing Komkar and Kale. Recently, Akshay Mhaske survived a third murder attempt in Sahakarnagar.Police believed that the Andekar gang had continued to orchestrate retaliatory attacks despite many of its members being behind bars. Last week, the accused were being escorted from the Shivajinagar court to prisons in Nandurbar and Dhule districts in police vans.However, the ST gang members allegedly chased the convoy on a motorcycle up to Chakan. The escort officials realised they were being followed and raised an alarm when the motorcycle riders attempted to intercept the police van.According to investigators, the suspects were allegedly providing real-time information about the convoy, including the number of police vehicles and its location. Police also suspected that the two men were carrying firearms.
