A 40-year-old real estate agent Arvind Kaushal of Kharadi was attacked by two unidentified persons on Friday evening around 7.30 pm outside his office in Kalyaninagar.
A 40-year-old real estate agent Arvind Kaushal of Kharadi was attacked by two unidentified persons on Friday evening around 7.30 pm outside his office in Kalyaninagar. Kaushal sustained severe head injuries and a broken nose. He is currently being treated in the intensive care unit of a private hospital.
Kaushal is the founder member of the mohalla committee of the Kharadi Road Residents' Association. According to Kaushal's older brother, Major (retd) Lalit Kaushal, his brother was actively exposing the irregularities in the construction process of the Ganga Constellation project of Messrs Goel Raisoni Associates in Kharadi, where they reside, through the Right To Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
According to Major (retd) Kaushal, a member of the managing committee of the society was keen on exposing the alleged manipulations done by the builder in the construction of the project. "These manipulations were brought to the notice of the Pune Municipal Corporation and the work was halted two months ago. My brother used the RTI as a tool to expose how the builder was misrepresenting facts to get permissions from the PMC,' Major (retd) Kaushal said.
On Friday morning, the Kaushals had visited the PMC head office with a new set of documents and were assured that the builder would be issued show cause notices. Major (retd) Kaushal said his brother received a call from the builder's representative who wanted to meet him to show him some property around Kharadi. This had prompted Arvind Kaushal to inform the police control room of likely assistance in case of foul play.
According to Major (retd) Kaushal, when his brother stepped out of his office on Friday evening, he was attacked with bamboo poles by two men who beat him up continuously. "This was a pre-meditated attack. Despite the rush in Kalyaninagar area in the evening, the two men beat up my brother,'' Major (retd) Kaushal said.
When contacted, director, Goel Raisoni Associates Annuj Goel told DNA, "We have good relations with Kaushal. There is no fight between us. Whatever happened to him is nothing to do with us. We are not in the picture. The man called by the police, was working with us three years ago. We have no connection with him now. Also, the police have not lodged any complaint against us.''
Senior police inspector Dipak Savant of the Yerawada police station told DNA, "Kaushal had complained to the PMC about the building construction a few days ago. Following which, the PMC authorities had stopped work at the project site. On Friday evening, Kaushal received a call from an unidentified person and then the incident took place. We have detained one suspect and the interrogation is on,'' Savant said.
Dr Vikas Gaikwad of the Shaha Hospital told DNA that Kaushal had received three stitches on his nose and had scratches on his left eyelid. He said that Kaushal was out of danger and would be discharged in two days.
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