PUNE: A group of young Amy officers of College of Military Engieat (CME), who were denied entry into the city pub, Ten Downing Street, around ‘closing time late last ‘week, bombed the complex, destroying a row of shops in the prime arcade Gera Plaza on Boat Club Road daring wee hours.

The provocative incident involving the Army personnel drew an instant protest, as the entire area remained shell shocked throughout the day, Four of the Amy officers of the rank of Second Lieutenant were identified, while cases were registered by the “police against 12 persons, suspected ‘to have been involved in the incident.

Second Lieutenant R.K. Mishra and H. Goyal were injured while Second Lieutenant Vinay Khetrapal, son of Major General Satish Kumar Khetrapal and Arun Ram Bhat, made ‘good their escape at 3:50 am after the blast, informed police sources said. The watchman, Sanjay Kamble, who was roughed up by the allegedly drunk Army officer’s jotted down their motorcycle numbers and informed the police.

The Army authorities, in a statement, said that a detailed investigation has been ordered into the involvement of the Army personnel in the incident at the pub, Any Army person found involved in the incident will be dealt with as per the civil Army law. On a request from the police, the Army authorities had sent a bomb detection squad to the site and its report was being awaited. All assistance was being provided to the police in their investigations.

A group of about 12 personnel, which ‘went to the popular city pub, were denied entry by the management, being left with merely half an hour before the stipulated closing time. De ‘Spite being told about the constraint, the group indulged in an altercation ‘and left the place.

The group returned around 3;15 am and bombed the complex, damaging almost all the shops on the ground floor of the shopping arcade, which houses the pub on the second floor. Around 20 shops, which included a number of boutiques and sweet marts, were reduced to a mass of wrangled displays and the place was strewn with pieces of window panes,

The agitated youths, who made it conveniently into the shopping arcade through the passage at the side, even as the shutters at the main entrance were down, did not even spare: the lift, shattering its glass panels,

According to an eyewitnesses, Varun Sheth of the Cafe Plaza and Aziz Ajanoy, owner of a bookshop at Gera Plaza, the behavior of the officers was not only rowdy but they also abused the customers and harassed a few girls sitting in a white flat. The girls kept screaming, while the officers were hell bent on pulling them out of the car, However, they went away after banging the shutters of the front portion of the shops in the arcade and mouthing obscenities, he added.

The shop owners were a benumbed lot and were engaged the whole day in assessing the extent of the damage caused by the blast. Says Ram Sabnani, owner of Benetton, “The furniture has been destroyed, glass grills have been broken, mannequins are not recognizable and the timber work gave way to the explosion.”

Article extracted from this publication >>  April 3, 1996