Pune Senior Citizen Dies After Hit-and-Run; Autorickshaw Driver Abandons Victim Instead of Taking Him to Hospital
Balewadi, 25th July 2025: A case of callousness and hit-and-run unfolded in Balewadi on Sunday afternoon when a 63-year-old retired professional, Gopal Wagh, was fatally injured by an autorickshaw just moments after he withdrew cash from an ATM near Balewadi Phata.
The incident took place barely 500 metres from Jupiter Hospital. Instead of taking the injured senior citizen there for treatment, the autorickshaw driver reportedly pretended to help but abandoned him in a secluded area near Range Hills. Wagh’s body was found nearly 24 hours later, following a police search initiated after his family filed a missing person complaint.
Family’s Search Ends in Tragedy
“We were worried when he didn’t return home for over two hours. I went to the ATM and saw his two-wheeler parked nearby,” said Amit Wagh, Gopal’s son. “Locals mentioned there had been an accident. I saw one of his slippers on the road and knew something had gone wrong.”
The family filed a missing person report at Baner police station on Sunday night. CCTV footage was reviewed by police on Monday, and by afternoon, they informed the family that a body had been found near Range Hills. Amit identified his father and confirmed the cash withdrawn from the ATM was still on him.
Hit by Auto, Then Left to Die
According to Senior Police Inspector Chandrashekhar Sawant, the autorickshaw was travelling from Balewadi towards University Chowk when it hit Wagh as he was crossing the road. “A crowd gathered at the spot and urged the driver to take the injured man to hospital. The driver agreed but took him towards Range Hills instead and left him in a deserted spot near an old bungalow,” Sawant said.
Police tracked the vehicle’s movement using CCTV footage. “He was later seen driving towards Sangvi, where he rented accommodation. He parked the autorickshaw there and fled. His location has now been traced to Uttar Pradesh, and a team has been dispatched to apprehend him,” Sawant added.
An FIR has been registered under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and Section 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act.
‘He Might Have Survived if Someone Had Helped’
Amit Wagh expressed anguish at the inaction of bystanders. “My father was a registered patient at Jupiter Hospital, just minutes away. If the driver or anyone in the crowd had taken him there, he might have survived. I keep wondering—was it fear or apathy that stopped people from helping?” he said.
Wagh, a retired employee of a law firm in Indapur, had moved to Pune to live with his sons, both software engineers. His family performed his last rites on Tuesday.
The case has sparked outrage over the lack of immediate aid from passersby and the driver’s inhumane decision to abandon a severely injured man.
