Knife Attack on Senior Booking Clerk at Pune Railway Station: Three Arrested
Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Pune, 25th August 2026: The Bundgarden Police have arrested three men in connection with the knife attack and robbery of a senior booking clerk at Pune railway station. The accused were traced to Dombivli East in Thane district after investigators examined footage from approximately 150 CCTV cameras.
The arrested accused have been identified as Jitendra Motiram Rathod (24), a native of Rokdi in Chalisgaon taluka of Jalgaon district; Ishwar Gorakh Chavan (23), a native of Dasnabad in Kannad taluka of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district; and Ajay Madan Chavan (35). All three were staying at Mumbra Devi Chawl near Bhopargaon Kamani in Dombivli East.
According to the police, the incident occurred at around 1 am on August 18 while the complainant, a senior booking clerk, was performing ticket-sale duties at Pune railway station. Two unidentified men allegedly attacked him with a knife and attempted to kill him before forcibly taking cash, two mobile phones and a gold chain.
Following the complaint, Bundgarden Police registered FIR No. 212/2026 under Section 309(2)(6) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Considering the seriousness of the offence against an on-duty railway official, Senior Police Inspector Santosh Pandhare formed two investigation teams and issued instructions to trace the assailants.
Although the accused had allegedly left no immediate evidence at the crime scene, investigators examined footage from approximately 150 CCTV cameras between Pune railway station and Dombivli East railway station. The footage helped police obtain images of the suspects and determine that they had entered the jurisdiction of Manpada Police Station in Dombivli East.
During the investigation, police personnel Prakash Awhad and Saras Salvi received information that the suspects were staying near Bhopargaon Kamani in Dombivli East. Acting on the tip-off, a joint team of Bundgarden Police and the intelligence branch of the Pune Railway Protection Force (RPF) detained Jitendra Rathod and Ishwar Chavan at around 4 am on August 21.
Police said that questioning of the two suspects revealed their alleged involvement in the offence. The investigation also indicated that their relative, Ajay Chavan, had allegedly assisted them in committing the crime, following which he was also arrested.
Police recovered the cash and two mobile phones allegedly stolen from the complainant. The press note did not mention the recovery of the gold chain.
The operation was carried out under the guidance of Additional Commissioner of Police Manoj Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 5) Rajlakshmi Shivankar and Assistant Commissioner of Police Vasant Kuvar. It was supervised by Senior Police Inspector Santosh Pandhare and Police Inspector (Crime) Vinod Salgarkar.
The investigation team was led by Police Sub-Inspector Rahul Pawar and included police personnel Pradeep Shitole, Saras Salvi, Prakash Awhad, Mahesh Jadhav, Nilesh Palve, Dnyaneshwar Bade, Manoj Bhokare, Shivaji Sarak and Dnyaneshwar Gaikwad. Pune RPF Intelligence Branch personnel Annasaheb Pakhare, Swapnil Dhanser and Yuvraj Gaikwad also participated in the operation.
