While the government advised the people to follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour, wearing a mask is no more mandatory but has been made optional. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Mumbai News Live: Union Minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane recently approached the Bombay High Court seeking to quash an FIR registered against him in Dhule over his remark against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Rane was arrested on August 24 last year, and later granted bail. He had stoked a controversy after his August 23, 2021 statement in Raigad that he would have slapped the Maharashtra CM for “not knowing how many years it has been since India gained Independence”.
In another development, a special court on Friday granted permission to the CBI take the custody of former state home minister Anil Deshmukh, his two staffers. The court also dismissed Mumbai Police assistant inspector Sachin Waze in connection to a corruption case.
Meanwhile, with the easing of all Covid-19 restrictions from Friday, the Public Health Department has instructed all the districts to keep a close eye on any possible surge in novel coronavirus cases. Medical experts believe that the next two weeks will be crucial after the relaxation and have suggested that people keep using masks. The relaxations come at the time of Gudi Padwa, Maharashtra’s New Year.
Maharashtra police will check the veracity of an email claiming threat to the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, state Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil said on Friday. The minister was referring to reports that the email, sent to the Mumbai office of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), had claimed that 20 sleeper cells with 20 kg of RDX were activated in a bid to assassinate Modi.
Nearly two months ago, the Mumbai unit of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), along with several other law enforcement agencies, received a email that threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The email was shared with other agencies, including the Mumbai Police, for further investigation. The email became public on Friday with law enforcement agencies confirming that they had received the mail.
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A special court on Friday granted permission to the CBI take the custody of former state home minister Anil Deshmukh, his two staffers and dismissed Mumbai Police assistant inspector Sachin Waze in connection to a corruption case. On Thursday, the central agency’s plea seeking request letters to take the four in custody was allowed by a special CBI court.
While Deshmukh, his personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and private assistant Kundan Shinde, are in custody of a special court for trial of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs, Waze is in custody of the special NIA court in connection with the Antilia terror scare case.
Union Minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane recently approached the Bombay High Court seeking to quash an FIR registered against him in Dhule over his remark against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
On March 29, Rane approached the High Court stating that the Dhule Police on March 10 issued him notice under Section 41A of the CrPC, which mandates the investigating officer to issue a notice of appearance before the arrest.
Rane was arrested on August 24 last year, and later granted bail by the Mahad magistrate court. He had stoked a controversy after his August 23, 2021 statement in Raigad that he would have slapped the Maharashtra CM for “not knowing how many years it has been since India gained Independence”.
A 50-year-old farmer died due to sunstroke in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra, an official said on Friday. The farmer, Limbaraj Sukale, died when he took a break while working at a farm on Thursday, he said. This is the second death due to sunstroke in the state in two days as a 27-year-old farmer from Jalgaon had lost his life on Tuesday.
Uber on Friday said it has raised fares by 15 per cent for travel in Mumbai to offset the impact of rising fuel prices. Diesel and petrol prices have gone up by Rs 6.40 per litre each between March 22, when they were hiked by 80 paisa per litre after a hiatus of 137 days, and March 31. "Uber is raising trip fares in Mumbai by 15 per cent," Nitish Bhushan, Head of Central Operations, Uber India and South Asia, said in a statement here.
A woman was arrested on Thursday after a 48-year-old taxi driver from Kurla lodged a complaint with the V B Nagar police alleging that he was duped of Rs 38 lakh by her and his accomplice on the pretext of getting him Rs 50 lakh.
The police identified the woman as Komal Paranjpe and her accomplice as Anil Vishnu Sawant.
Taxi driver Irshad Shaikh sold his brother’s house, mortgaged ornaments and took loans from his friends, as he was promised Rs 50 lakh after the wine shop license, which was allegedly in the name of the father of the accomplice, got transferred in Sawant’s name.
Maharashtra on Friday reported 123 Covid-19 cases and two deaths, taking the tally to 78,41,147 and the toll to 1,47,785, an official said.
The deaths took place in Malegaon and Buldhana, he added. So far, 77,25,451 people have been discharged post recovery, including 112 in the last 24 hours, leaving the state with 911 active cases, the official said.
He pointed out that Nandurbar, Parbhani, Hingoli, Nanded, Akola, Washim, Yavatmal and Gondia districts had zero active cases. PTI
A 25-year-old BMC medical officer was cheated of Rs 1.75 lakh after investing in a “crypto mining” app called ShareHash. The woman, who learnt about the app from a relative, at first received returns on her investment after which she invested larger sums. But after she stopped receiving any returns, she approached Chembur police and an FIR was registered on March 31.
Police said that the woman learned about the app from her paternal uncle, who had been investing money and receiving returns on the investment. In December, she downloaded the app from Google Playstore and invested small sums, receiving a monthly payment from the app. She was then added to the “HNTBlockchain Mentor 163” WhatsApp group.
Initially she deposited Rs 69,000 through the app and received monthly payments. Over a period of time, she invested Rs 2.35 lakh through the app. But in the past few weeks, she stopped receiving returns on her investment. She then contacted her uncle, who was also not receiving returns on his investment. When they tried calling the person who had created the WhatsApp group, they found that their numbers were blocked. Later, they learned that they had been removed from the WhatsApp group. Read More
The Bombay High Court Friday granted bail to 10 accused while rejected the same for eight others in the 2020 Palghar mob lynching case.
As many as 200 people were arrested in the case that was initially investigated by Palghar police before it was transferred to the CID. On April 14, 2020, a mob lynched two sadhus, Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70) and Sushilgiri Maharaj (35) and their driver Nilesh Telgade (30) at Gadchinchale in Palghar district, 140 km north of Mumbai. The attack took place amid rumours that child-lifters were roaming in the area during the lockdown.
The court granted bail to Mohan Davlya Gavit, Ishwar Bandhu Nikole, Feroj Bhau Sathe, Raju Gopaji Gurud, Vijay Savji Pilena, Risha Savaji Pilena, Deepak Rupji Gurud, Sitaram Bhikhlya Rathoad, Vijay Raghu Gurud and Ratna Kalu Bhawar. Read More
The Enforcement Directorate filed a chargesheet on Friday against businessman Pravin Raut, known to be close to Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, in connection with the alleged fraudulent sale of the floor space index (FSI) of a plot by Guruashish Construction Pvt Ltd, where the former is a director.
The chargesheet named Raut, Sarang Wadhawan and Rakesh Wadhawan of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) and Guruashish Construction as accused in the money-laundering case. Guruashish is a subsidiary of HDIL.
The agency, which arrested Raut on February 4, found that Guruashish Construction was given a contract by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority a few years ago to redevelop the Patra chawl in Goregaon West in suburban Mumbai. (Read More)
Property sale registrations touched 16,152 units in March 2022 in Mumbai, contributing nearly Rs 1,131 crore to the state’s revenue, as per data from the Inspector General of Registration, Maharashtra.
The number of units registered in March 2022 was the third-best in a decade, while monthly state revenue collections were at a 10-year high, according to data compiled by Knight Frank India.
Maximum registrations were in the price band of Rs 1-5 crore, while in terms of apartment size, mid-sized homes ranging between 500 and 1,000 square feet were the most preferred category of properties registered in March 2022. (Read More)
Nagpur-based lawyers Satish Uke and Pradip Uke were sent to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate till April 6.
They were brought before the court around 12 pm after being arrested last evening from Nagpur. The ED had sought 14-day Custody seeking to probe money laundering by them.
The lawyers told the court that the case against them by ED was a political vendetta. The court heard arguments by both sides for over three hours and said that since the case is at a preliminary stage of the investigation, the accused be sent to ED custody till April 6.
The Maharashtra government’s decision to cut the value added tax (VAT) by 10.5 per cent has helped to bring down the compressed natural gas (CNG) price by Rs 6 per kilogram and the piped natural gas (PNG) price by Rs 3.50 per standard cubic meter.
The price drops came into effect on Friday. The decision to cut the VAT was announced by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar during the Assembly’s budget session, which concluded on March 25.
“The government has decided to reduce the VAT on CNG from 13.5 per cent to three per cent. The reduction in the VAT on CNG was effected to benefit the common man who uses autorickshaws and taxis,” Pawar said. (Read More)
Hitting out at the Centre over the rising fuel prices and other issues, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday said the promises of ''achhe din" (good days) and depositing Rs 15 lakh into the bank accounts of people were nothing but 'April Fools' Day' jokes.
Alleging that the government has fooled the people for the last seven years, he said it should now work for their welfare as it is a "life and death" situation for the common man. Read more
The Kasturba Marg police in Mumbai’s Borivali (East) has registered an FIR against one of its own officers.
The officer, sub-inspector Anil Sonavane, has been dismissed from service and is wanted in a robbery case lodged at Malwani police station in Malad. The FIR was registered because the officer has not submitted documents related to five cases. From 2015 to 2016, Sonavane was posted at the Kasturba Marg police station where he was the investigating officer in a theft case, a child labour case, an unlawful labour case, two grievous injury cases in road accidents and a rash and negligent driving case. Read more
In its detailed order rejecting the anticipatory bail to suspended DCP Saurabh Tripathi, a sessions court said that he is not authorised to extract money from persons alleged to be engaged in illegal businesses. The court also said that a circular referred to by the senior policeman in his defence during the arguments “appeared fabricated”.
Tripathi was booked along with four others, including an inspector, for allegedly extorting money from angadias or couriers, who are involved in transfer of valuable items or cash. His pre-arrest bail plea was rejected this week. The detailed order was made available Friday. Read more
The Directorate of Education has proposed a timeline for the start of summer vacation and new academic year in the state. If approved, schools across Maharashtra should close for summer vacation on May 2, and resume for the new academic year on June 13. Final approval is expected from the Mantralaya.
A proposal for this, signed by both directors of education – primary as well as secondary – was sent to principal secretary (Education) on Thursday. Read more
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA) has issued a provisional aggregator license to four companies, including Ola and Uber, for operating taxi services in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Other companies which have been issued the licence under the Union government’s Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines-2020 are Meru Mobility Tech Pvt Ltd and Mahindra Logistics Ltd. Read more
The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed Rs 9 lakh cost imposed by the Bombay High Court on Hotel & Restaurant Association (Western India), Indian Hotel & Restaurant Association (AHAR) and seven other associations representing hotels, which are self-serving foreign liquor (FL) vendors.
The HC, on Tuesday, had dismissed pleas that had sought to set aside the January 28, 2020, notification issued by the Maharashtra government, prescribing FL-III license renewal fees for 2021–2022 with a hike of 15 per cent. Read more