Attack on Pune Journalist Sneha Barve: A Month on, Prime Accused still not arrested

Pune Journalist Sneha Barve Attack: A Month on, Prime Accused Still Not Arrested

It is a month since journalist Sneha Barve was brutally attacked by Pandurang Morde, a local businessman with a criminal record, in Nighotwadi village in Manchar, Pune district, but police are yet to arrest him.

The investigating officer in the case, Sunil Badjugar, told FSC that Morde could not be arrested as he had fractured his leg. It is unclear how he sustained a fracture after beating up the journalist and the villagers.

Badgujar said that police took Morde to a government hospital for a check up on July 18 but since he was declared medically unfit, he could not be taken into custody. “In any case, it is a bailable offence”, he said.

On July 4, 2025, Barve was recording a piece to camera about alleged illegal construction by Morde on the Godh riverbed, which villagers felt would result in the flooding of the agricultural produce market. Even as she was speaking on camera, Morde picked up a huge wooden log and began beating her till she fell unconscious. Bystanders who tried to intervene were also beaten and one fractured his hand while another got a broken nose.

The video went viral and an FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint filed by an injured bystander, Sudhakar Kale but the sections applied relating to grievous hurt, intimidation, unlawful assembly and intimidation. A few days after the incident, Morde’s son Prashant, visited Barve’s village to make enquires about her residence and her family members. On July 24, he was lurking around Barve’s office, the Samarth Bharat newspaper and Youtube channel, and when she emerged, he again threatened to harm her.

For these threatening acts, Badjugar said that the police had made an application before the Ghodegaon judicial magistrate to cancel the bail granted to Prashant Morde. He added that a private complaint can also be made to cancel the bail.