NCP leaders Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar. (File)Mumbai News Live Updates (August 13): Amid rumours of a “secret meeting” between Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit, the veteran NCP leader, clearing the air, asserted that his party’s political stand will not change and it will never join hands with the BJP. “As the national president of the NCP, I am making it clear that my party will not go with the BJP. Ajit Pawar is my nephew. My meeting with him was not secret and there is nothing wrong in meeting a younger person from the family,” he said.
Sharad Pawar and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will share the dais at Sangola in Solapur district today. The occasion is the inauguration of the statue of veteran leader of Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWPI), late Ganpatrao Deshmukh. Earlier on August 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sharad Pawar came together at a function held in Pune.
In other news, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast light to moderate showers in Mumbai and its neighbouring districts for today. According to meteorological department, the entire state of Maharashtra is slated to receive light rain in the week and the intensity is expected to pick up pace after August 18.
Ambassador of Italy to India Vincenzo De Luca (Express photo)
A 2016 murder and an alleged rape of a senior citizen in a Mumbai building lands a security guard in jail. What follows is a rare act of compassion as residents of the building rally around the 21-year-old from J&K — from raising funds for a defence lawyer to testifying in court. Last week, after eight years in jail, the now 28-year-old walked out a free man as the Dindoshi sessions court in Mumbai cleared him of all charges, including of murder and rape.
On February 11, 2016, a 75-year-old woman was found murdered in her ground floor home in the western suburbs of Mumbai while her husband was away at work. After police filed a case of murder, on March 3, the guard was arrested with police claiming to have evidence of his involvement.
While police initially claimed that he committed the murder as the housing society had issues with water supply and warned him to do his work diligently, subsequently, during the trial in 2019, police added the charge of rape against him. Among the evidence they placed in court was a pyjama with semen stains and blood stains found on a pillow lying next to the victim, which, they claimed, matched that of the accused. Read more
Eighteen patients have died in the last 24 hours at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa in Thane, civic commissioner Abhijit Bangar said on Sunday.
These comprise 10 women and eight men, of which six are from Thane city, four from Kalyan, three from Sahapur, one each from Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar and Govandi (in Mumbai), one patient is from some other place and and one is unidentified, he said.
Twelve of the deceased were above the age of 50, with the oldest being an 83-year-old woman and the youngest a 4-year-old boy Bangar added.
Earlier in the day, state health minister Tanaji Sawant said the dean of the hospital had been asked to submit a report in two days.
A Thane Municipal Corporation official said the deaths were being analysed and several civic officials are at the heavily-patronised facility for inspection of records etc. (PTI)
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Sunday met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's residence for over two and half hours. The leaders met on the background of meeting between Sharad and Ajit Pawar in Pune on Saturday.
"People of this state are looking with hope towards MVA. The meetings may create confusion in the minds of people and it is important that such confusion should be cleared," Patole said about the meeting of Pawars.
Earlier in the day, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said his party will not go with the BJP though some 'well-wishers' are trying to persuade him. Speaking about a meeting with Deputy CM and his nephew Ajit Pawar in Pune on Saturday, Pawar senior said, “Ajit Pawar is my nephew. My meeting with him was not secret. There is nothing wrong in meeting a younger person from the family.”
Police in Maharashtra's Nagpur have busted a counterfeit currency note racket with the recovery of fake notes of Rs 48,000 face value, and arrested three persons, including two from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Sunday.
The first arrest was made at Kalmeshwar near Nagpur city on August 10, following which two others were arrested from Madhya Pradesh, he said.
"One Pravin Patel, a 21-year-old man hailing from Sidhi district in MP, was nabbed from Gondkhairi near Nagpur after he was found carrying fake notes of Rs 100 denomination of Rs 48,700 face value," the official of Nagpur Rural police said.
During Patel's interrogation, he revealed the names of two others, the police said.
"Accordingly, Dhiraj Dinesh Tiwari (28), from Satna district in MP, and Akash Annapurnaprasad Pandey (21) from Sidhi district in the same state, were apprehended," he said. (PTI)
Maharashtra Chief Minister on Sunday termed the 18 deaths in the past 24 hours in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa in Thane as painful and unfortunate and said a high level committee will conduct a detailed probe.
An official release said the CM, who is in Satara at present, said health minister Tanaji Sawant and Thane guardian minister Sambhuraj Desai were monitoring the situation.
As per information provided by the hospital administration, patients were in very critical condition and some had been referred there by private hospitals, the release quoted the CM as saying.
'A committee under the chairmanship of the state health director will carry out a detailed probe into the deaths. Action will be taken based on this report,' Shinde, who was talking to reporters in Dare in Satara, said. (PTI)
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said his party will not go with the BJP though some "well-wishers" are trying to persuade him.
“As the national president of the NCP, I am making it clear that my party (NCP) will not go with the BJP. Any association with the Bharatiya Janata Party does not fit in NCP's political policy,” he said.
Pawar revealed that some "well-wishers" are trying to persuade him but he will never align with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
"Some of us (Ajit Pawar-led NCP group) have taken a different stand. Some of our well-wishers are trying to see if there can be any change in our stand. That is why they are trying to have a cordial discussion with us,” he said without taking names. (PTI)
Officers of the Mumbai Air Customs on August 9 seized 1559.6 carat natural and lab grown diamonds worth Rs 1.49 crore from an Indian national travelling to Dubai. The diamonds were concealed inside a tea packet. The passenger was arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
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NCP president Sharad Pawar said his party’s political stand does not include joining hands with the BJP.
Speaking about a meeting with Deputy CM and his nephew Ajit Pawar in Pune on Saturday, Pawar senior said, “Ajit Pawar is my nephew. My meeting with him was not secret. There is nothing wrong in meeting a younger person from the family.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, who is the executive editor of the party mouthpiece Saamana, wrote in his column on Sunday that power was slipping out of the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has sounded the poll bugle, telling them, “chale jao (go away)”.
“The sand of power is slipping out of the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. In 2024, their fist will be empty…,” Raut wrote in his weekly column ‘Rokthok’, published in Saamana.
The old gives way to the new, and police investigations too have turned a new leaf with the use of electronic devices, advanced fingerprinting techniques, voice recognition and the like. Prabhakar Shukla, who retired as a deputy commissioner of police in 2002, is full of praise for the modern technology that has undoubtedly facilitated crime detection.
However, the 78-year-old Shukla is a little concerned that the “human element” is somewhat lacking in today’s police investigations. He recalled how in the absence of technology, the men in uniform had to rely much on their connection with people as well as their circle of informers and ability to spot tiny giveaways — they basically engaged in heavy legwork and mastered the art of keeping an ear to the ground at all times. “A diligent policeman would interact with a wide spectrum of people. It is necessary to be able to help people not just as an officer of the law but also as a human being,” he said.
The Mumbai Port Authority (MPA) has extended the tender deadline for the construction of the Marina project at Princess Dock till August 24. The previous date for bid submission was July 24 this year. The tender has been extended following no favourable response from bidders, confirmed an official.
The MPA has proposed the project on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, wherein the appointed concessionaire has to design-build-finance-operate it for 45 years. The objective to construct a Marina is to provide a parking facility for 300 yachts at Princess Dock, which will decongest Gateway of India.
A 2016 murder and an alleged rape of a senior citizen in a Mumbai building lands a security guard in jail. What follows is a rare act of compassion as residents of the building rally around the 21-year-old from J&K — from raising funds for a defence lawyer to testifying in court. Last week, after eight years in jail, the now 28-year-old walked out a free man as the Dindoshi sessions court in Mumbai cleared him of all charges, including of murder and rape.
On February 11, 2016, a 75-year-old woman was found murdered in her ground floor home in the western suburbs of Mumbai while her husband was away at work. After police filed a case of murder, on March 3, the guard was arrested with police claiming to have evidence of his involvement.
While police initially claimed that he committed the murder as the housing society had issues with water supply and warned him to do his work diligently, subsequently, during the trial in 2019, police added the charge of rape against him. Among the evidence they placed in court was a pyjama with semen stains and blood stains found on a pillow lying next to the victim, which, they claimed, matched that of the accused. Read more
A day after Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar secretly met in Pune, Cabinet Minister and senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar commented, "It is likely that Ajit Pawar must have told Sharad Pawar it is better to support PM Narendra Modi who is working for Atma Nirbhar Bharat rather than associating with Congress' Rahul Gandhi."
NCP president Sharad Pawar and his deputy chief minister nephew Ajit Pawar, who heads the group of rebel MLAs of the party, are believed to have met at the residence of a businessman in Pune on Saturday, sparking a buzz in Maharashtra political circles.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Amol Mitkari said, "It could be a family meeting between the two leaders".
Visuals aired by regional news channels showed Sharad Pawar arriving at the residence of the businessman in Koregaon Park area at around 1 pm. He left by around 5 pm.
After nearly two hours, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was seen leaving the premises in a car at 6:45 pm while apparently trying to avoid cameras. The visuals showed the car brushing the gate.
Maharashtra NCP president (Pawar faction) Jayant Patil is also believed to have attended the meeting. (PTI)
"Sharad Pawar has repeatedly said that he will never go with the BJP. So as MVA we do not worry about it. But it is true that such meetings create confusion among the people including leaders, workers and the people of the state. Hence there must be clarity about it,"Shiv Sena UBT MLC Ambadas Danve said on Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar's secret meeting in Pune on Saturday.
"The meeting could be the political one and the meeting is good. But unless one of them reveals the reason behind the meeting, one should wait,"Shinde led Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat said.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan’s production house, Red Chillies Entertainment, has filed a complaint with the Mumbai police after stolen video clips of their upcoming film ‘Jawan‘ were shared on microblogging site Twitter in order to cause damage to the film and the production house.
Pradeep Nimani, Chief Financial Officer of Red Chillies Entertainment, filed an FIR with the Santacruz police station on Thursday.
As per the FIR, recently the production house discovered that the film’s video clips were leaked online by some Twitter handles. It stated in the FIR that the film has not been released in theatres yet. During the shooting of the film, people present at the spot were not allowed to use mobile phones in order to prevent the leak of shooting videos. Read more
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari Saturday inaugurated the Chandni Chowk flyover which has been constructed at an expense of Rs 1,000 crore, aimed to decongest the Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway at this entry point to the city.
On the occasion, Gadkari pushed for the use of skybuses in the city as public transport saying that the city’s roads have no potential for further expansion. He said that he has future infrastructure plans for the city with a cumulative expenditure of Rs 40,000 crore, including a ‘Westerly Bypass’.
“Pune roads have no scope for further expansion. I advise Ajit Dada Pawar and Chandrakant Patil to take a look at the presentation of the skybus. These buses have the capacity to carry 250 passengers and they travel through the air,” said Gadkari. Read more
Anticipating crowds of devotees, the trust managing the Trimbakeshwar temple in Maharashtra's Nashik district has closed VIP darshan during the holy month of Shravan till September 15, an official said on Saturday.
In view of the large crowd of devotees at the temple during Shravan, all kinds of VIP darshan — barring written correspondence from the central level, state level and by the district collector regarding the protocol for very important persons (VIPs), has been closed till September 15, Shree Trimbakeshwar Devasthan Trust stated in a release.
During this period, the facility of VIP darshan available for devotees at the cost of Rs 200 each will remain closed, an official from the trust office said. (PTI)
A worker was killed and another injured in a fire at the factory of the Economic Explosives Limited (EEL) in Maharashtra's Nagpur on Saturday, police said.
The incident took place around 7.30 am at the company's plant in Siva Sawanga, where waste materials were being burned, an official from EEL told PTI.
The burning of the waste materials caused an explosion, in which two workers were injured, he said.
One of the workers who sustained severe burns died later in the day, while his colleague suffered 40 per cent burns and is undergoing treatment at a hospital, the official said.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Vishal Anand said Pratik Khadatkar (21) was killed in the fire and the other injured employee is in treatment. (PTI)
A special court in Maharashtra's Thane district sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly raping and impregnating a 13-year-old girl.
Special POCSO judge V V Virkar on Friday found the accused guilty on two counts under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment on each count.
The accused Mohammed Islam will undergo both sentences of 20 years concurrently.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on the accused and ordered that the entire amount after realisation be given to the victim towards compensation.
The special public prosecutor informed the court that the girl and the accused lived in the same locality. She was a school dropout and helped her mother at their grocery shop.
The accused used to frequent the shop and befriended the girl, the prosecution said. (PTI)
In the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY), meant to aid economically disadvantaged patients, an audit by the Maharashtra government has revealed that 641 empanelled hospitals overcharged for Covid-19 treatment. The audit followed 32,000 complaints, resulting in a refund of around Rs 14 crore to affected patients across Maharashtra.
Under the state’s flagship initiative, patients falling below the poverty line (BPL), beneficiaries of the Annapurna scheme as well as holders of orange and yellow ration cards are granted medical insurance coverage of Rs 1,50,000.
To prevent the denial of care in private hospitals due to financial constraints, the then state Health Minister Dr Rajesh Tope had declared free treatment under the scheme during the Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020. Read more
A court here on Saturday remanded to the National Investigation Agency's custody the seventh accused arrested in connection with the Maharashtra ISIS module case.
Nachan was produced before a special court, which remanded him to the NIA's custody till August 18.
It claimed that he was allegedly involved in fabrication, training and testing of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for commission of terrorist acts.
Nachan had been working in collaboration with the other six accused — Zulfikar Ali Barodawala, Mohammed Imran Khan, Mohammed Yunus Saki, Simab Nasiruddin Kazi, Abdul Kadir Pathan and Aakif Ateeque Nachan, along with some other suspects, the probe agency said.
Khan and Saki were members of the 'Sufa terrorist gang' and had been declared 'most wanted' by the NIA in a case relating to the recovery of explosives from a car in Rajasthan in April 2022. (PTI)
A day after expressing her disappointment over being "sidelined", the national vice-president of BJP's women's wing Medha Kulkarni attended the inauguration of a new flyover in Pune on Saturday.
Kulkarni represented the Kothrud assembly constituency as a BJP MLA from 2014 to 2019, but was denied a ticket in the 2019 elections to make way for the then Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil, who won the seat. This decision received strong backlash in the constituency, which is known for its strong Brahmin presence.
Kulkarni on Friday expressed disappointment after she found her name missing from the invitation brochure for the inauguration of the new flyover at Chandni Chowk here.
A multi-level flyover built at Chandni Chowk was inaugurated on Saturday at the hands of Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. Kulkarni was also on the dais, but refused to comment on her social media post. (PTI)
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said the Centre should not brag about repealing the sedition law as it is currently using legislations, which are scarier than what the British brought, against its political opponents.
Talking to reporters, Raut asked whether the law is being repealed to help "RSS worker" and former senior Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist Pradeep Kurulkar, who has been booked for espionage.
The Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police last month filed a chargesheet against Kurulkar, who was the director of one of the labs of the DRDO in Pune, in a court. He was arrested on May 3 on charges of providing confidential information to a Pakistani agent under the Official Secrets Act and is now in judicial custody.
"Do not brag about repealing the sedition law. You (the BJP) have brought laws which are scarier than what the British made and they are being made to trouble your political opponents," he alleged. (PTI)
An offence has been registered against five persons associated with a real estate firm for allegedly cheating a man of Rs 5 crore in a land deal in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Saturday.
The Naupada police on August 9 registered a case against five persons, including a couple and their daughter who own the firm, under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the official said.
The fraud took place between January 2014 and August 2023, when the complainant, who is a driver, approached the firm to sell his ancestral land, he said. (PTI)
The Shiv Sena (UBT) Saturday launched an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP over the speeches made by the leaders during the no-confidence motion in Parliament moved by the INDIA, the newly-formed Opposition bloc. In an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana, the party said the speeches were full of arrogance, inferiority complex and irritation. The editorial also added that blaming Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for the Manipur violence shows the political bankruptcy of Modi.
Even though the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is concretising Mumbai’s roads in a phased manner to mitigate the pothole problem for the past few years, civic data shows that this year so far, the city has recorded the highest number of potholes in last three years. According to BMC’s data, Mumbai recorded 59,533 potholes till date in 2023. Earlier in 2022, 38,310 potholes were reported while in 2021, 43,478 potholes were reported. The civic body’s data furthermore stated that out of the total potholes that have been reported so far this year, 59,213 have been filled.
The Maharashtra government on Friday granted its approval for the construction of a 350-feet tall statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar to be installed at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Memorial at Indu Mills in Dadar. The social justice department issued a Government Resolution on Thursday giving approval to the statue being made by renowned sculptor Ram Sutar from Ghaziabad. In April this year, a team of government officials, family members of Ambedkar and other dignitaries had gone to the factory of Ram Sutar in Ghaziabad to inspect the 25-foot tall replica of Ambedkar and finalise it.
Following a month of incessant showers, with the city surpassing the seasonal average of rainfall in less than two months in July, Mumbai has been recording weak monsoon spells in the month of August. The ongoing spell of light rains is likely to continue in the upcoming week with India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing a green alert for the city and its neighbouring districts until August 15.
Despite a delayed onset of monsoon this year, the city surpassed the seasonal average of rainfall in Mumbai which stands at 2318.8 mm, on July 31. However, amid weak monsoon spells, data furnished by BMC showed that Santacruz observatory recorded average rainfall of 2337 mm until Thursday, registering a marginal rise in the first few days of August.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested a man from the neighbouring Thane district in connection with the Maharashtra ISIS module case, for promoting violent activities of the proscribed terrorist outfit, the probe agency said in a statement.
With the latest arrest, the NIA has apprehended seven persons in the case so far.
The man, Shamil Saquib Nachan, was arrested following raids at his residence in Padgha area of the district, the statement said.
According to the probe agency, Nachan was allegedly actively involved in promoting terrorist activities of the designated foreign terrorist organisation.
He was involved in fabrication, training and testing of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for commission of terrorist acts, the NIA claimed. (PTI)
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Friday slammed the Eknath Shinde-led government for not appointing the guardian ministers for 17 districts and claimed that both deputy chief ministers were eyeing the CM's chair.
The three ruling partners – Shiv Sena, BJP and Ajit Pawar faction of NCP – are competing to “loot” the state coffers, he said.
“In this government, one minister is the guardian minister of six districts. Nineteen guardian ministers have been appointed for 36 districts. This means 17 districts still do not have a full-time guardian minister,” said Patole.
The Congress leader said the government is in a quandary over who will do the flag-hoisting on August 15, referring to a list of ministers assigned to hoist the Tricolour at district headquarters on Independence Day.
The government had earlier announced that the flag-hoisting will be done by the district magistrates and commissioners in the absence of a guardian minister, but changes had to be made to it, Patole told reporters here. (PTI)
The Bombay High Court on Friday, while stating that the cause of deaths of pedestrians or cyclists falling in manholes or potholes is “man-made” and not a natural cause, directed an immediate inspection through a spot survey by BMC officials accompanied by advocate-commissioners across 24 wards to inspect whether manholes across the city are covered and submit a report within three weeks.
The court also pulled up the state government for “slackness” in complying with a HC order of September 30 last year in which it had asked it to consider handing over roads in Mumbai to BMC for their repair and maintenance to ensure pothole-free roads in good condition. Read more
A resident of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh has "confessed" to killing Nagpur-based Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary Sana alias Heena Khan, who went missing last week, after his arrest on Friday, a police official said.
The accused, Amit Sahu alias Pappu, was arrested along with two others by the Nagpur police from the Ghora Bazar area of Jabalpur in the adjoining state, ten days after Khan, a Nagpur BJP minority cell functionary, went missing, he said.
Nagpur DCP (Zone 2) Rahul Madne claimed Sahu, the prime accused in the case who was known to the 34-year-old victim, has "confessed" to kidnapping and killing Khan.
He also showed the murder spot to the police, but the victim's body has not been recovered yet, said the officer.
A motive was not immediately clear.
The role of the two other persons arrested along with Sahu, who runs a 'dhaba' (roadside eatery) in Jabalpur, in the crime was not disclosed by the police. (PTI)
The police have seized 46,000 litres of diesel, worth more than Rs 1 crore from two fishing boats at a port in Maharashtra's Raigad district, police said on Friday.
Based on a tip-off, the police on Wednesday conducted a raid at Rewas port in Alibag taluka and found green diesel on two boats, an official said.
A total of 46,000 litres of green diesel worth Rs 1.03 crore were seized from the boats and nine crew members have been taken into custody, he said. (PTI)
The Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, a ruling partner in Maharashtra, has planned ‘janata durbars' and statewide tours as part of its efforts to improve connect at the grassroots level, a senior party leader said on Friday.
The party shared the plan after Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar chaired a meeting of NCP ministers, party leaders and supporters at their office in south Mumbai.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Lok Sabha MP Sunil Tatkare, who is also the state president of the Ajit Pawar group, said the meeting focussed on their party's programmes and policies and strengthening NCP at the grassroots.
“The core committee will meet next week to take stock of organisational matters,” Tatkare said.
The party leaders will also hold Lok Sabha constituency-wise tours, Tatkare said. He said the responsibility of district-wise tours would be given to important leaders and the nine NCP ministers will hold ‘janata durbars' (platforms to interact with the public) from next week. (PTI)
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress on Friday welcomed the interim bail granted to former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik by the Supreme Court on medical grounds in a money laundering case.
Malik, a senior NCP leader, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in February 2022 in the case allegedly linked to the activities of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his associates.
Party's national spokesperson Clyde Crasto thanked the apex court for granting interim bail for two months to the politician, saying the 64-year-old former minister can avail medical treatment for his multiple health issues during this period.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Vijay Wadettiwar of the Congress also welcomed the bail granted to Malik, who is in judicial custody and currently undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Mumbai. (PTI)
Twelve policemen were injured in stone pelting, following a scuffle between two groups on a highway in Maharashtra's Dhule district, police said on Friday.
The incident took place on Mumbai-Agra Highway (NH-3) at Sangvi village in Shirpur taluka around 9.30 pm on Thursday, an official said.
A scuffle broke out between two groups, following which people staged a "raasta roko" blocking the movement of vehicles on the highway, he said.
On being alerted, the highway police's Shirpur in-charge Narendra Pawar and his personnel reached the scene and tried to restore traffic, when an angry mob started pelting stones at them, the official said.
Twelve police personnel were injured in the stone pelting and were rushed to a hospital, he said. (PTI)
"It is wrong to say that Nawab Bhai has been granted bail because NCP joined hands with the BJP. We were always sure that Nawab Bhai cannot do any wrong and it was the case in ED which resulted in him being under arrest for so long. We are confident that he will soon be declared innocent. Nawab Bhai has yet not declared his support to Ajit dada, but as we all know he has always maintained good relationship with Ajit dada. Once he comes out, he will decide the right thing," Narendra Rane, Mumbai NCP chief of Ajit Pawar group.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail for two months to former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on medical grounds in a money laundering case. Malik had sought relief from the HC, claiming he was suffering from a chronic kidney disease apart from various other ailments.
The Bombay High Court on Friday said the cause of deaths due to poor condition of roads, potholes and manholes are not natural but man-made, and it is the constitutional obligation of the Maharashtra government and civic bodies to ensure good, motorable and safe roads.
A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor also pulled up the state government for not taking any decision on a suggestion made in court last year to hand over all roads in the city under the jurisdiction of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for maintenance and repair work.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by advocate Ruju Thakker seeking contempt action against the civic authorities for failing to implement the high court's orders of 2018 directing the repair of potholes along all arterial roads in Mumbai and neighbouring areas.
Pursuant to the court directives issued on Wednesday, commissioners of the civic bodies of Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan Dombivili, Navi Mumbai, Vasai Virar and Mira Bhayander were present in court on Friday.
The bench directed all the municipal corporations to file exhaustive affidavits detailing what steps it has taken on a 2018 order passed by the court to ensure that all roads are made potholes free. (PTI)
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday arrested NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on charges of money-laundering and “active involvement in terror funding”.
What are the charges against Malik?
The ED is investigating Malik for a property deal that he entered into with Haseena Parkar, sister of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. There are allegations that Malik bought this property — 3 acres of land at Goawala Compound on LBS Marg in Kurla, Mumbai — for Rs 85 lakh, of which Rs 30 lakh was shown in sale agreement and the rest was paid in cash. The ED has alleged that the registered value of the property was much lower than the prevailing market rate.
According to the ED, Parkar transferred her interest in the property held through Salim Patel for the beneficial interest of Malik in 2005. The ED has claimed that Sardar Shahwali Khan, who has underworld links, played an important role in the sale. Read more
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's criticism of the Congress during his reply to the no-confidence motion shows the grand old party is growing stronger.
PM Modi on Thursday spoke for more than 130 minutes in the Lok Sabha in a reply to the debate on the no-confidence brought by opposition parties. The Congress later hit out at the PM, saying he is gripped with a "Congress-phobia" and that is why he criticised the party throughout his speech.
Talking to reporters here, Raut said, "The Congress is still in the heart and brain of the prime minister even though he has won two elections (as a PM). Under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party has put up a challenge and the party is growing." Referring to Modi, he said, "You are in power for 10 years...forget the Congress and speak about your work." Raut said the no-confidence motion was moved to make the prime minister come to Parliament and give a statement on the Manipur issue and what the government is doing to restore peace there. (PTI)
Money laundering case: SC grants two-month interim bail to former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on medical grounds. Opposition NCP, led by Sharad Pawar welcomes bail granted to party MLA Nawab Malik by the Supreme Court.
The Bombay High Court had previously rejected a plea by NCP leader Nawab Malik seeking bail on health grounds in a money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED arrested the former minister in February last year in a money laundering case registered over the Goawala compound property in Kurla, allegedly linked to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. He has been in judicial custody since March 2022. He has been admitted to Criticare Hospital, Kurla, since May 2022. The special court had said he would remain in the hospital until further orders.
RPF constable Chetansinh Chaudhary, 33, refused to give consent to undergo three scientific analysis tests (brain mapping, narco-analysis and polygraph tests). Following this the Borivali magistrate court rejected the application of Borivali railway Police on Friday. The court also sent the accused constable to 14 day judicial custody.
Two persons were attacked and killed by a group of youngsters, some of them minors, in Maharashtra's Nashik city, police said on Friday.
The police have detained four persons, including two minors, in connection with the attack that took place at Sanjeevnagar area in Ambad MIDC on Thursday night, an official said.
The incident took place around 7.30 pm when a group of seven to eight youngsters attacked two men with sharp weapons, he said.
Mehraj Asgar Ali Khan (18) died on the spot, while his friend Ibrahim Hasan Sheikh (23) succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at the district civil hospital, the official said.
The attack was captured by the close circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in the area, he said. (PTI)
The Borivali magistrate court on Friday rejected the application of Borivali railway police seeking permission for brain-mapping, nacro, polygraph tests. This comes after RPF constable Chetansinh Chaudhary, 33, refused to give consent to undergo three scientific analysis tests. The court also sent the accused constable to 14-day judicial custody. Chaudhary is allegedly of killing his senior officer and three passengers on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express on July 31.
Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has revived plans for the four-lane Sewri-Worli Elevated Connector (SWEC), which will benefit approximately 35,000 motorists daily, once Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) is completed. It will facilitate signal-free connectivity to the east and west of Mumbai. The connector is part of the MTHL and will act as a traffic dispersal system.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) has moved an application before the Borivali magistrate court seeking permission to perform three scientific analysis tests (brain-mapping, narco-analysis and polygraph tests) on RPF constable Chetan Singh, who allegedly killed his senior officer and three passengers on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express on July 31.
Agriculture universities should experiment the application of drone for spraying fertilizer spraying in fields. The use of drone can help agriculture sector, cabinet minister for agriculture Dhananjay Munde said.
A road over-bridge (ROB) passing over railway tracks has become operational between Kalyan and Vitthalwadi in Maharashtra's Thane district, following which manned level crossings at these points have been shut, officials said on Friday. The ROB had been commissioned by the Central Railway and the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd (MRVC), an official release said.(PTI)
More than a month after a 34-year-old woman undertrial in Byculla jail approached a special court seeking permission to medically terminate her pregnancy that was over 13 weeks, the court Thursday allowed her plea.The detailed order on directives given to the jail authorities is yet to be made available. The woman, a homemaker, was arrested along with her husband in June in a drugs case. During a medical test after her arrest, she was found to be pregnant.
The Bombay High Court has issued notice in connection with the pleas filed by Rashesh Shah, chairman of Edelweiss Financial Services and Raj Kumar Bansal, the CEO of Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited, along with its official Keyur Mehta and Jitendra Kothari insolvency resolution professional. The petitioners sought to quash the FIR against them under charges of abetment to suicide in connection with the death of art director Nitin Desai. The accused have also sought interim relief of “no coercive action" and requested that the probe be stayed until the hearing of the plea. The HC will hear the pleas in August 18 when the prayer for interim relief will be considered. The HC said they can wait till hearing in next week.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will head to Japan for a five-day tour from August 20, following invitation from the Japan government. During the visit, Maharashtra government is likely to enter into collaborations in projects related to infrastructure, education and social sector.