Mumbai City Latest Updates: Bombay HC dismisses Sonu Sood's petition challenging BMC notice on illegal construction at his residence

The MSEDCL on Wednesday announced its bill arrears had mounted to Rs 63,740 crore and officials will now disconnect power supply of consumers who fail to clear pending electricity dues, especially for the Lockdown months. Citizens had protested and many had not paid their electricity bills after receiving hefty bills between April and June, 2020. Some got bills as high as Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000. Read the full story here

A district court here sentenced a62-year-old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for repeatedly raping his minor niece in Maharashtra's Thane district. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 22,000 on the accused, an auto rickshaw driver, additional public prosecutor Ujjwala Moholkar said.

Indian cricketers – Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw and India’s coach Ravi Shastri – made a quiet entry into Mumbai on Thursday. The players and the Indian coach were felicitated by Mumbai Cricket Association officials upon their arrival. They have been advised to stay under a strict seven-day home quarantine, as per BMC guidelines.

Photo by Raju Shinde/TIL

Police have busted a flesh trade racket at a lodge in Bhiwandi town here in Maharashtra and arrested three persons in this connection, an official said on Thursday. Acting on a tip-off, the police conducted a raid on the lodge on Tuesday night and rescued two women, aged 32 and 23 years, from there, the official from Narpoli police station said. Three persons, including the manager of the lodge and two waiters, were arrested for allegedly forcing the women into prostitution, he said. A case was registered against them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, he said. (PTI)

Equity benchmark indices scaled new record highs during early hours on Thursday with the Sensex crossing 50,000 mark for the first time. Read more here

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) conducted searches at several locations in south Mumbai, seized drugs and cash worth crores. "Drugs manufacturing unit busted in Dongri area was run by drugs peddler Chinku Pathan who was arrested yesterday," said NCB. (ANI)

Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh has embarked on an ambitious plan to rein in hardened criminals and habitual offenders. Accordingly, senior inspectors of every police station have prepared a list of “Top 25” criminals in their respective jurisdiction and made them sign a bond of good behaviour. The bond has existed, but it’s the first time Top 25 criminals are being targeted. However, the bond amount was only up to Rs 5,000 earlier. Read the full story here

Central Railway (CR) will operate a special traffic and power block on all six lines between Thane and Mulund stations for launching girders of Kopri Road Over Bridge by Road crane. The block will be operated from 01.00 hrs to 04.30 hrs on Saturday/Sunday night and Sunday/Monday night. Suburban services between Kurla and Thane will remain cancelled from 00.30 hrs to 05.30 hrs on January 24 and January 25. Read more

Mumbai's Air Quality Index (AQI) that improved on Monday and Tuesday to moderate, has once again dropped to the poor category. According to AQI India, places like Kurla, Vasai, Powai, Sion and Nerul reported AQI above 150.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said that the state government will take back cases filed under section 188 of Indian Penal Code against people who had violated various norms during the coronavirus-induced lockdown. On his official Twitter account, Deshmukh shared a video and wrote, “The State Government will withdraw the offenses filed under IPC Section 188 against violators amidst Covid-19 following judicial norms.” This brings relief for many people, including celebrities, against whom cases were registered for violating lockdown norms. Read the full story here

Mumbai Police has summoned Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut in a defamation case filed by veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar. Kangana has been asked to appear before the Juhu police on January 22 (Friday). Akhtar filed a criminal complaint against Kangana in November last year before the Andheri metropolitan magistrate for allegedly making defamatory and baseless comments against him. Read the full story here

On the third day of the vaccination drive in Mumbai, once India’s worst COVID-19 hotspot, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) managed to administer vaccines to just 52 per cent of the targeted 3,300 healthcare workers on Wednesday. Officials of the BMC said that low turnout was the result of the technical glitches in Co-WIN software application, adding that ‘walk-in’ vaccination is now allowed for registered workers. Read the full story here