PUNE, Jan 25: The ongoing strike by operators of Pune's three-seater autorickshaws, the mainstay of transportation within the city, took a new turn on Friday after the auto drivers, arrested earlier in the day, ran amuck outside the Visapur Jail in Ahmednagar district where they were in custody. Taking advantage of the situation, as many as 363 automen escaped.In a separate incident, eight automen fled from custody outside the Yerawada Central Prison. Assistant Commissioner of Police V P Munde told The Indian Express that the Pune police and their Ahmednagar counterparts have launched a massive manhunt for the absconding automen after charging them under Sections 224 and 34 of IPC (escaping from police custody and common intention to commit crime). The automen had already been charged under Section 135 of the Mumbai Police Act for violating the prohibitory orders issued by Pune's police commissioner.
The automen, who fled while being shifted to the Visapur Jail, had been arrested when they gathered near
the Rickshaw Panchayat office, violating the ban on assembly of five or more persons. The ban was imposed by Pune Police Commissioner K K Kashyap following violent incidents during the strike.
The Rickshaw Panchayat had called for a dharna at the office of Divisional Commissioner Arun Bhatia. Workers were arrested on charges of defying the ban before they could reach Bhatia's office.
The automen were produced before the court on Thursday night. They were initially taken to the Yerawada Central Prison. Later, 941 of the arrested were shifted to Visapur after Yerawada authorities expressed inability to accommodate all those detained.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
