Gang puts up posters calling itself 'Sarkar 302' after friend's death

Deceased Tushar's friends put up such posters in Pune city after his death

Following 17-year-old Tusharbhau Mohan Bhapkar's alleged killing in Pune on Wednesday night, his friends on Friday put up rather bizarre posters across the city - calling him 'sarkar' and the grieving group as 'Sarkar 302'. The teenager, booked in several crimes, called himself a 'bhai' of the area that he resided it. Three residents of the same area have been arrested in relation to his death.

A resident of Manjari, Bhapkar had cases of theft, eve-teasing and possessing fatal weapons registered against him. He was thus put into an observation home from where he was released a couple of months ago. He had even tried to once escape the observation home once last year but the police had found him.

Around 7 pm on Wednesday, Bhapkar was found beating a man which prompted a group of three to kill him. The Hadapsar police have registered a case of murder against Sunny Dinkar Singare, 29, his brothers Vinod, 27 and Dada alias Mahesh, 26, all residents of Manjari Budruk.

Assistant police inspector Machindra Adlange of Hadapsar police station said, "The deceased was the son of a security guard and seemed fascinated with goons, often imitating them. Arrested accused Singare was a friend of Bhapkar and it seems he was suggesting the latter to quit drugs. Following an argument over this, Bhapkar began threatening Singare with a chopper which was then used to kill the former."

"We zeroed down upon the suspect on Friday when we saw the posters. 'Kal tu chala jayega, mein kya karu…I am back' [You will be gone tomorrow, what will I do], the posters read, with a 'Sarkar 302' subtext. Section 302 refers to murder under the Indian Penal Code. We are probing the case and have also seized the posters since we do not want more youth to fall prey to such a life at a tender age. We are also counselling his friends to lead better lives," Adlange added.

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