“Oxford of the East”, “pensioners’ paradise”, “most livable city” – for all the aphorisms the city of Pune has evoked amongst its residents, visitors and admirers for years, the bustling metropolitan has increasingly been in headlines for all the wrong reasons. 

From claims of dereliction of duty by the Pune police in the infamous 2024 Porsche crash case to the alleged rape of a 26-year-old woman in a stationary bus just 150 metres away from a police station last month, there are concerns about the effectiveness of Pune’s law enforcement. In fact, they might even be emblematic of the slow but sure decay that plagues law and order in Maharashtra’s cultural capital.

While the police swing into action in high-profile cases at lightning speed, even changing the course of a Bangkok-bound chartered aircraft over a “false kidnapping” complaint by Shiv Sena MLA Tanaji Sawant, they are accused of dragging their feet in cases involving crime against commoners. 

So, does Pune have a law and order problem?