
Stones pelted at cars on Samruddhi, highway police point finger at local youths
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: In the wake of incidents of stones being pelted at vehicles plying on the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway near Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar at night, the highway traffic police said local youths, out of mischief, were engaging in these disruptive acts.
A motorist documented video evidence of stone pelting at his vehicle on June 15. The footage also captured similar attacks on two other heavy vehicles, resulting in damaged windshields. Rupali Darekar, the superintendent of police (highway traffic) in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, said these incidents were not linked to robbery or theft attempts.
"As per our investigation, local youths are pelting stones at vehicles on the Samruddhi Expressway.
We are tracking down the people involved by intensifying the patrolling," she told TOI. Darekar said the young mischief-makers typically wait for police patrol vehicles to pass by and then start pelting stones at cars, aware that it would take the patrol cars a long time to return to the spot.
"It takes around half an hour to reach the stone-pelting site by taking a U-turn on the expressway. Youths flee by the time our vehicle reaches the incident spot," she said.
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Officials drew parallels between these incidents and recent attacks on the Vande Bharat trains across the state.
"Those found indulging in such acts jeopardising the safety of others will be subjected to stern action," Darekar said.
Police announced increased surveillance on the expressway to ensure traveller safety. Currently, four highway traffic vehicles patrol the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar section, staffed by one police inspector, two sub-inspectors, and 10 constables.
The complete 701km six-lane controlled-access Samruddhi Expressway became fully operational from Nagpur to Mumbai on June 5 with the opening of a 76km section between Igatpuri in Nashik and Amane in Thane, attracting increased traffic.

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