Maharashtra: Vinayak Mete cremated with state honours in Beed

Two people died after a ceiling of a house collapsed in Mumbai on Monday. The incident took place at Moti Chhaya Building located on Nane Pada in Mulund around 7:45pm, reported ANI.

Police have impounded the truck allegedly involved in the Mumbai-Pune Expressway car crash that killed Shiv Sangram Party leader Vinayak Mete from Daman city and detained the driver, an official said on Monday. Police had received the information that the truck was spotted in the limits of Kasa police station in Palghar on Sunday late night, hours after the car accident that occurred in the Raigad district.

The teams of Palghar and Raigad police travelled to Daman city in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and impounded the truck and the driver, the official said.

Shiv Sangram Party leader and former member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) Vinayak Mete was cremated with state honours in Beed on Monday. Thousands of people and politicians, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, attended the last rites.

Mete, 52, was killed when his car headed towards Mumbai hit a truck from behind on the Mumbai-Pune expressway near Madap tunnel in Raigad district early Sunday morning.

The funeral procession started from Shivsangram Bhavan at around 1 pm and passed through several parts of the city, where people had lined up along the roads. The cremation took place at 4 pm after official Independence Day events had concluded.

Maharashtra on Monday recorded 1,189 Covid-19 cases and one fatality, which took the state's tally to 80,73,529 and the toll to 1,48,172, a health department official said. A day earlier, the state had seen 2,082 cases and three deaths.

Mumbai reported 584 Covid-19 cases, which took the tally to 11,33,172, while the death toll stood unchanged at 19,664, a civic official said.

While the metropolis is left with 5,218 active case, there are 12,148 active cases in the state.

Maharashtra Chief minister Eknath Shinde virtually flagged off the 'Azadi Express', a special Metro train, on the country's 76th Independence Day on Monday. The Azadi Express is a special initiative of the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMDRA) and Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Ltd (MMMOCL) to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a government release said.

Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Monday said there is no corruption at the Central level in the last eight years of the Narendra Modi government. Addressing a gathering in Pune to mark 75 years of the Zilla Parishad, Koshyari said PM Modi wants to root out corruption in the country with the support of the people.

"It has been eight years now the Prime Minister has been leading the government. The Union cabinet under him is eight-year-old. Have you heard of (corruption) (at the Central level)? In some places (states), officials give in writing that leaders are demanding bribes from them. How unfortunate it is for the country. But have you ever heard of corruption involving any minister in the Centre or the prime minister?" he asked.

The Raigad local crime branch team on Monday detained the tempo driver involved in the fatal accident of former MLC Vinayak Mete. READ MORE

The state and the city continued to witness a spike in new Covid-19 cases. On Sunday, the city saw its highest single-day detection in 44 days, with 882 fresh cases. It also increased the city's daily positivity rate to nearly 10%. READ MORE

Former member of legislative council and a prominent voice in the Maratha community, Vinayak Mete, 52, passed away after his SUV met with a fatal accident early Sunday morning. The accident took place about 500 metres ahead of the Bhatan tunnel at Rasayani on the Mumbai-Pune expressway about 6 kms from Palaspe traffic Chowkie around 5. 15am. Mete was travelling with his bodyguard, constable Ram Dhobale, and driver Eknath Kadam from Beed towards Mumbai for a meeting on Maratha reservation later in the day.

Days before the monsoon session of the assembly, allocation of portfolios in the state cabinet has been finalized with BJP securing key ministries including home and finance for Devendra Fadnavis. READ MORE

Eighty years ago, Ramchandra Churi became a martyr along with four other young freedom fighters as they were shot dead by the British during the Quit India Movement in Palghar in August 1942. Two years later, a Martyr Square-called Panch Batti-was built in Palghar in their honour and locals started observing August 14 as Martyrs' Day. Churi's photo frame had to be kept blank as no picture of him was known to exist. READ MORE