An Air India Express Flight IX 1202, carrying 183 Indians evacuated from Ukraine, landed in Mumbai around 5.30 am. (Twitter/PIBMumbai)Mumbai News Highlights: A flight from Bucharest carrying 183 Indians, including an infant, stranded in Ukraine landed in Mumbai Thursday, an official said. Union minister Raosaheb Danve welcomed passengers of the third evacuation flight from Bucharest to Mumbai, as soon as the Air India Express Flight IX 1202 landed around 5.30 am. This was the second evacuation flight operated to Mumbai from Bucharest to bring back Indians from war-ravaged Ukraine since February 27.
Meanwhile, a special PMLA court Thursday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik till March 7. He was connected by ED in connection with Dawood Ibrahim money laundering case.
In other news, the Income Tax department on Thursday said it had found 36 benami properties worth Rs 130 crore after searching premises including those of Mumbai Shiv Sena corporator Yashwant Jadhav on February 25. In a statement, the department said that it had also searched the premises of a few contractors working with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and found they had evaded income tax of Rs 200 crore.
IN ITS detailed order rejecting the anticipatory bail of inspector Om Wangate in connection with the case related to extortion of angadias, a sessions court said it took the decision “considering the nature of allegation, statement recorded during enquiry and seriousness of the offence”.
An FIR was registered against inspector Wangate, API Nitin Kadam and PSI Samadhan Jamdaade following an enquiry by the additional commissioner of police (south region) after allegations of extortion made by angadias. While Kadam and Jamdaade were arrested by the police, Wangate was absconding.
Later, Wangate filed an anticipatory bail application, which was rejected by the court earlier this week. Read more
Union minister Narayan Rane and his son, MLA Nitesh Rane will appear before Mumbai Police on Saturday in connection with a case where they are accused of making defamatory and misleading statements about Disha Salian, late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's former manager.
Salian died by suicide by jumping off a building on June 8, 2020, six days before Rajput was found dead inside his Bandra home. Earlier, suburban Malvani police had sent notices to the Ranes, asking Nitesh Rane -- who is a BJP MLA -- to appear before the investigating officer on Thursday. His father and BJP leader Narayan Rane had been asked to appear on Friday, a police official said here.
But the duo's lawyers informed that as the Maharashtra legislature was in session, they would appear before police on Saturday, the official added. Accordingly, the statements of both Narayan Rane and Nitesh Rane will be recorded at 1 pm on Saturday, he said. (PTI)
A day after reporting zero Covid-19 death, Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 12 fatalities and 467 new cases, including 243 Omicron infections, the state health department said. With the addition, the state's coronavirus positive tally rose to 78,67,391 and toll to 1,43,718.
On Wednesday, the state had recorded 544 coronavirus positive cases, but did not report any fatality. The last time the state recorded zero death was on April 1, 2020.
"Today, 234 patients with Omicron infection were reported in the state. All these patients were reported by Kasturba hospital's laboratory," the health department said in a statement. All 234 infections were reported from Mumbai. (PTI)
In the wake of the question paper leak last year, the state housing department has blacklisted G A Software Technology Private Limited selected to conduct examinations for recruitment in Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA). The order in the regard was issued on Thursday.
Speaking to the Indian Express, MHADA vice chairman Anil Diggikar said, “We had a lot of faith in this agency because they had conducted many examinations in the state. We relied on their profile and hired them to conduct examinations for various posts – from clerks to engineers. But exam paper for MHADA recruitment was leaked in Aurangabad… we cancelled examinations. Thereafter, we filed a FIR against this agency and action began.” Yogesh Naik reports
The BJP on Thursday warned that it will not relent on its demand for resignation of cabinet minister Nawab Malik for his alleged links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
On the first day of budget session, the opposition BJP protested against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government at Vidhan Bhawan in Mumbai.
The budget session that commenced on Thursday will conclude on March 25. The budget 2022-23 will be presented by deputy CM and finance minister Ajit Pawar on March 11. Read more
The CBI has said that Indrani Mukerjea's plea claiming that her daughter Sheena Bora, whom she is accused of killing, is alive, is a "figment of her imagination" and “next to impossible”. Mukerjea had recently submitted an eight-page application before the special CBI court, claiming that Bora is alive.
In the application submitted through her lawyer Sana Raees Khan, Mukerjea had sought that the CBI and prosecution be directed to file an affidavit in response.
Mukerjea claimed that Asha Korke, a former police inspector lodged in Byculla women's prison in an extortion case, has allegedly told her that in June, 2021 she had met a woman who looked like Sheena Bora in Srinagar. (PTI)
The Maharashtra government on Thursday decided to explore legal options to restore the political quota of OBCs after the Supreme Court refused to accept the interim report of the State Backward Classes Commission for the 27 per cent reservation to the community in local body elections.
During its meeting held at the Vidhan Bhavan premises here, the state cabinet discussed in detail the decision of the apex court, which noted that the report has been prepared without empirical study and research, an official said.
"The cabinet decided that the government will explore legal options to restore the quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in local body polls. The cabinet also decided to write to the State Election Commission (SEC) not to hold these elections till any decision on restoring reservation for the community is taken," the official said. (PTI)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) was left red-faced before a special court when the agency conceded of a "typographical" error in an earlier remand note in which it had mentioned that the amount allegedly paid by Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's sister as Rs 55 lakh instead of Rs 5 lakh.
After the ED accepted the mistake, the court extended Malik's remand till March 7. During the hearing, the agency conceded that there was a mistake in its earlier remand plea which had alleged that Malik paid Rs 55 lakh to late Haseena Parkar, Ibrahim's sister, and it should be read as Rs 5 lakh.
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh also clarified that the figure of Rs 55 lakh mentioned in the first remand application was a "typographical error," and should be read as Rs 5 lakh. (PTI)
IPS officer Rashmi Shukla has approached the Bombay High Court seeking to quash an FIR registered against her at Bund Garden police station in Pune last month in the illegal phone-tapping case.
Shukla, who is currently posted in Hyderabad as the additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force's (CRPF) South Zone, filed the petition earlier this week through her counsel Sameer Nangre. The petition is likely to be listed for hearing on Friday.
The FIR was filed against Shukla on February 26 under relevant sections of the Indian Telegraph Act for alleged illegal tapping of phones of politicians between 2015 and 2019 during her tenure as the Pune police commissioner. (PTI)
Mumbai did not report any Covid-19 death for the seventh consecutive day on Thursday, but recorded 80 new cases of the infection, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
With the addition of these cases, the city's caseload reached 10,56,729, while the death toll remained unchanged at 16,691, it said.
A total of 118 patients were discharged during the day, which raised the recovery count to 10,36,5076. There are now 650 active cases in the metropolis, the civic body said in its report. (PTI)
Two gas cylinders exploded in a slum room at Gagangiri Chawl, Thane, Thursday afternoon. The incident happened at 4.35 pm, damaging six slum rooms. The Thane Municipal Corporation informed the media that no casualties or injuries were reported.
Four teenage boys drowned in the Arabian sea off Kelwa beach in Maharashtra's Palghar district on Thursday afternoon, police said. The incident occurred around 1 pm, an official said, adding that while one of the deceased was a resident of Kelwa, three others were his friends from Nashik.
The victims were identified as Atharva Nakare (13), Krishna Shelar, Deepak Wadkate and Om Vispute (all of them aged 17), he said.
"Four students had come from Nashik to meet their friend Nakare, a resident of Devicha Pada at Kelwa, after which all of them went to the beach for a picnic," he said. (PTI)
Maharashtra Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would not allow civic body elections in the state until the other backward classes (OBC) reservation is restored.
The BJP’s announcement came after the Supreme Court, earlier in the day, refused to accept the interim report of the Maharashtra State Backward Classes Commission that recommended the restoration of the 27 per cent OBC reservation in local body polls.
Addressing the media at Vidhan Bhawan, Fadnavis said: “The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s lackadaisical approach towards the OBC reservation is shocking. It has miserably failed to safeguard the OBC reservation. Lack of political will on the part of the MVA government stems from its total disregard for the political empowerment of OBCs in Maharashtra.” Read more
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted temporary bail with strict conditions on medical grounds for six months to Mehul Thakur, director of Viva Group, run by the family of Vasai MLA and leader of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi Hitendra Thakur.
Mehul Thakur was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in January last year for allegedly diverting more than Rs 196 crore from Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) to the group and transferring two properties worth Rs 34 crore of a company controlled by HDIL promoters to the group without any monetary consideration. Omkar Gokhale reports
A special court here on Thursday extended the ED custody of Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik till March 7 in a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.
Malik was arrested on February 23 after being questioned for about five hours at the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) office in south Mumbai. He was produced before special court judge RN Rokade at the end of his initial remand on Thursday.
The court extended his custody till March 7 for further probe into the case. (PTI)
A fire broke out in a garment factory in Byculla area of Mumbai on Thursday, a civic official said on Thursday. There was no report of any casualty, he said.
The fire broke out in the factory located in Zakaria Industrial Estate around 1.30 pm, the official said.
After being alerted, fire brigade and police personnel rushed to the spot, he said, adding that the blaze was doused in about one-and-a-half hours. The exact cause of the fire is not yet known, he said. (PTI)
A special court here on Thursday extended the ED custody of Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik till March 7.
“He was admitted to a hospital from February 25-28, as a result of which Malik’s statement could not be recorded. Considering this and the new facts submitted, he is being sent to ED custody till March 7,” special Judge R K Rokade said.
The Income Tax department on Thursday said it had found 36 benami properties worth Rs 130 crore after searching premises including those of Mumbai Shiv Sena corporator Yashwant Jadhav on February 25.
In a statement, the department said that it had also searched the premises of a few contractors working with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and found they had evaded income tax of Rs 200 crore.
The department said it had found evidence that a showed a “close nexus” between these contractors and Jadhav, who is also chairman of the standing committee, which sanctions expenditure proposals and approves budgets. Khushboo Narayan reports
More than 400 Indian medical students who are stuck in Sumy University in Sumy, a northeastern city in Ukraine near the Russian border, have alleged that no help has come their way since the war broke out.
The Indian embassy has asked them to stay put but the students wonder if the government has any evacuation plans for them.
Eight students from the university, through a video on social media, requested the Indian government to rescue them. Jayprakash S Naidu reports
Newly-appointed Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey has reached out to Mumbaikars seeking their “support to work towards maintaining safety and security for all in our city” as he shared his personal mobile phone number on Facebook.
In the Facebook post late Wednesday, Pandey also asked citizens to contact him on his Facebook and Twitter profiles that he has been increasingly using to communicate with people.
Pandey took over as the Mumbai police commissioner from Hemant Nagrale on Monday. Read more