Nawab Malik (File)Mumbai News Updates: Over 20 days after his arrest, NCP on Thursday decided to take away Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik’s portfolios. Malik holds minority affairs and skill development portfolios in the Shiv Sena-led MVA government. He was arrested by the ED in late February in connection with a case of money laundering against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and is currently under custody.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ram Kadam has slammed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government for “imposing restrictions” on celebrating the Holi festival in Maharashtra. “Why is the MVA resorting to such extreme steps when it comes to Hindu festivals? The government has imposed restrictions on Holi celebrations,” Kadam said.
In other news, many areas like Dadar, Elphinstone, Sandhurst Road, Andheri and Dahisar in Mumbai have lost maximum urban tree cover density in the past five years, states the recently unveiled Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP). Urban tree cover is defined as collection of trees that grow within a city. The report mentions that between 2016 and 2021, Mumbai lost 2,028 hectares of urban tree cover that is equal to the size of about one-and-a-half Aarey Milk Colony which is spread on 1,300 hectares.
A 35-year-old Nigerian national was arrested by Mumbai police's Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) allegedly with mephedrone drugs worth Rs 14 lakh, an official said on Friday.
Lucky Moses, a prime supplier of contraband, was held on Thursday from Kalina area of the city by the ANC's Ghatkopar unit, he said.
In another operation, the ANC's Bandra unit nabbed Samir Sheikh (28), Bilal Khan (22) and Akhtar Sheikh (30) allegedly with 346 bottles of cough syrup. All four have been charged under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, he added. (PTI)
Mumbai on Friday recorded 48 new coronavirus cases and zero pandemic-related fatalities, a civic official said.
The caseload in the megapolis rose to 10,57,505 while death toll stood unchanged at 16,693. There are 317 active patients in the city now. As many as 54 patients were discharged from hospitals since previous evening. A total of 10,37,611 patients have recovered in the city so far. (PTI)
The Bharatiya Janata Party will field Satyajeet Kadam in the Kolhapur North Assembly bypolls scheduled for April 12.
Chandrakant Patil, president of the party’s Maharashtra unit, said that a formal decision on the candidature would be made by the national leadership at its parliamentary board meeting on Friday night.
Earlier, the state unit of the BJP had shortlisted two candidates—Kadam and Mahesh Jadhav. After discussions, the party decided to put up Kadam, who is also the nephew of party spokesperson Dhananjay Mhadik. (Read More)
The BJP Monday will move an adjournment motion in the state legislative Assembly on the Maratha reservation and promises that were made but not fulfilled by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
State BJP president Chandrakant Patil Friday said, “All the promises made by the MVA government on the Maratha reservation and various welfare schemes have remained unfulfilled. The government gave people false promises. It amounts to betrayal of trust.”
The ongoing Budget session, which commenced on March 3, will conclude on March 25. The Maratha reservation is an issue which has remained unresolved and comes up for discussion and debate in every state legislative session. (Read More)
A man was arrested for allegedly circulating obscene photographs of his wife, who is a woman police constable, on social media, an official said on Friday.
The Marine Drive police station official said the accused, who resides in Chakan in Pune, has a dispute with his wife.
He has been booked under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of IPC and Information Technology Act provisions, the official added. (PTI)
Former media executive Indrani Mukerjea, in custody over the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora, has been granted bail in a case related to the alleged rioting in Byculla jail in 2017.
Mukerjea, who was not arrested in the case initially, received a summons last year after the Mumbai police filed a chargesheet in the case.
The additional metropolitan magistrate’s court on Wednesday permitted Mukerjea to execute a personal bond of Rs 15,000 with conditions including not making any inducement, threat or promise to anyone connected to the case. (Read More)
Nearly six months since it passed guidelines or working protocols for courts, their registries and the media for conducting and covering proceedings pertaining to sexual harassment of women at workplace, the Bombay High Court Thursday clarified that the same were case specific.
The court said that it was an “incorrect impression” that the said directions passed on September 24 last year were general directions governing all matters under the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) and Rules.
The court, last year, had held that it is imperative to protect the identities of the parties in such hearings, including the victim, the accused or the witnesses, and had said that hearings be conducted or verdicts be delivered inside chambers or in-camera not in open court. (Read More)
The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) has threatened to break ties with the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra over the state government’s alleged apathy for farmers. The organisation has announced that a formal decision will be taken at its state conclave in Kolhapur on April 5. In an interview, SSS founder-president Raju Shetti tells Shubhangi Khapre how differences over the government’s land acquisition policy triggered the discord.
Why has the SSS convened a state executive conclave on April 5?
To determine a roadmap for the organisation. High on the agenda is the discussion and adoption of a proposal on whether the SSS should continue or break the alliance with the MVA government in Maharashtra. A formal decision will be taken at the meeting. (Read the complete interview here)
The Mumbai Police late on Wednesday had registered a case of cheating after Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik’s son Amir approached V B Nagar police station alleging that an unidentified person had sent him an email demanding Rs 3 crore in the form of bitcoins to get the minister out on bail.
According to the police, a case was registered under Sections 419 (punishment for cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code along with relevant sections of the IT Act.
Malik is currently lodged at the Arthur Road jail after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him in a case of money laundering linking his property deals to the close associates of gangster Dawood Ibrahim. (Read More)
In its detailed order acquitting former MLA Ramesh Kadam on charges of abusing policemen in 2017, a metropolitan magistrate court said that the delay in registering an FIR creates a doubt that the complaint was an “afterthought”.
On May 18, 2017, Kadam, who was then lodged at the Byculla Jail, was being taken to J J Hospital for an MRI scan. It was alleged that Kadam had abused the assistant inspector leading the police escort team and had also threatened to file a false complaint against him. Kadam in his defence had claimed that a bribe was sought from him and he was falsely implicated by the policemen to avoid action after he said he would file a complaint. A video had gone viral where Kadam was seen abusing the policemen. (Read More)
In its detailed order rejecting the transfer applications filed by actor Kangana Ranaut on proceedings between her and lyricist Javed Akhtar, the sessions court has said that oral directions given by the court while media persons were present in the courtroom cannot be termed a threat.
Ranaut had sought transfer of a defamation complaint filed against her by Akhtar and a counter-complaint filed by her alleging criminal intimidation against him. Her petition sought the transfer of the pleas from the magistrate currently hearing the cases in Andheri to another court.
Among the grounds, Ranaut had submitted that on one hearing, the magistrate had said that he would issue a warrant against her on the next date if she failed to appear before it. It was submitted that this was reported by the media and it amounted to an open threat. (Read More)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ram Kadam has slammed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government for “imposing restrictions” on celebrating the Holi festival in Maharashtra.
Ram Kadam said: “Why is the MVA resorting to such extreme steps when it comes to Hindu festivals? The government has imposed restrictions on Holi celebrations.” The Maharashtra Government on Wednesday issued strict guidelines for Holi which mandated that celebrations should end by 10 pm and banned the use of loudspeakers.
The Mumbai Police arrested a gang of seven men including bogus Angadias who took Rs 2 crore from a complainant on the pretext of sending it to Assam but fled with the money. The police have managed to recover Rs 49.60 lakh from the gang so far. The Angadias are like courier service providers who transport precious items including cash for a fee.
The 70-year-old complainant is a resident of Andheri (east). On 4 February, the complainant, who wanted to send Rs 2 crore to Assam contacted Angadias through people known to him. Three men – Iqbal Shaikh, Nisar Ahmed and Yashwant Singh – told the complainant to contact Angadia Madhumadan alias Murli, Amol Kamble and Rupendrasingh who ran an Angadia office on Daftary Road in Malad (east).
Nearly 23 days after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate, Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik’s party, the NCP, on Thursday decided to take away his portfolios. The 62-year-old minister held the Minority Affairs and the Skill Development portfolios in the Shiv Sena-led MVA alliance government, of which the NCP is a part.
He was arrested by the ED in late February in connection with a case of money laundering against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. He is at present in judicial custody.
State NCP chief and water resources minister Jayant Patil said Malik’s portfolios will be given temporarily to his Cabinet colleagues from the party. The MVA government, however, will not seek Malik’s resignation as minister, Patil added, and he will continue to remain the NCP’s Mumbai unit chief.
There is evidence to indicate that senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh had exercised "undue influence" over transfers and postings of police officials during his tenure as Maharashtra Home Minister, a special PMLA court noted in its detailed order on his bail plea made available on Thursday. Special judge R N Rokade made this observation in his order while denying bail to Deshmukh in a money laundering case.
The bail plea of the former state minister (71), arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November last year under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, was rejected on March 14. The court also held that there is evidence to show that he was "actively involved" in money laundering activities.
Mumbai police have registered an FIR against an unidentified person who allegedly demanded Rs 3 crore from the son of Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik to get the latter out on bail, an official said on Thursday. NCP leader Malik was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last month in a money laundering case. Following a complaint filed by the minister's son Amir Malik, the V B Nagar police registered the FIR late Wednesday night, he said.
NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar on Thursday held a meeting with party's senior leaders to discuss giving charge of portfolios held by jailed Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik to his two other cabinet colleagues, sources said.
The meeting took place at Sharad Pawar's residence here and was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, ministers Jayant Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil and senior leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, the sources said.
Malik, a senior NCP leader, is a cabinet minister who holds minority affairs and skill development portfolios in the Shiv Sena-led MVA government. The 62-year-old NCP leader, arrested in late February by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an alleged money laundering case, is currently in jail under judicial custody. (PTI)
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday praised his party colleague Devendra Fadnavis for the BJP's election victory in Goa, and expressed confidence that it would be replicated in Maharashtra too. Fadnavis, who was the BJP's in-charge for the last month's Goa Assembly elections, was greeted by party workers on his arrival here in his hometown earlier in the day.
The former Maharashtra chief minister proceeded to Gadkari's residence from the airport and took his blessings. Gadkari's wife Kanchan welcomed Fadnavis with the traditional `aukshan' ceremony. Later, speaking at a function to felicitate Fadnavis, Gadkari said the recent elections in five states were very important, and the BJP's huge success under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president J P Nadda has boosted its confidence. (PTI)
Maharashtra reported 229 new coronavirus cases and three fresh deaths on Thursday, while 395 more patients recovered from the infection, bringing the active tally to less than 2,000 in the state, the health department said.
With this, the state's overall count of COVID-19 cases rose to 78,72,032, while the death toll increased to 1,43,762, the department said in a bulletin. A day ago, the state had recorded 237 cases and two fatalities.
As per the bulletin, the number of recovered cases in Maharashtra increased to 77,22,360 after 395 patients were discharged during the day, leaving the state with 1,906 active cases. The coronavirus case fatality rate in the state was 1.82 per cent, while the recovery rate stood at 98.10 per cent, it said. (PTI)