Higher and Technical Education Minister in Maharashtra and senior BJP leader Chandrakant Patil (Express/File Photo)Pune News Live Updates today: Pimpri Chinchwad police said they are dropping the attempt to murder charges invoked against the three persons who were arrested for the ink attack on Minister for Higher and Technical Education Chandrakant Patil. Police have also revoked the suspension of 10 policemen against whom action was taken for dereliction of duty in providing the security cover to the minister.
Meanwhile, the bandh called by various organisations on Tuesday against Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s recent controversial remarks on Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was “peaceful” without any untoward incident, the police said.
In other news, Pune is set to get a new Police Commissioner. In a reshuffle of 30 senior IPS officers by the Maharashtra government, Ritesh Kumar has been appointed Commissioner of Police (CP) of Pune City, replacing Amitabh Gupta. Vinay Kumar Choubey will take charge of Pimpri-Chinchwad police, replacing Ankush Shinde.
A major search operation has been undertaken by multiple teams of the income tax department in Pune. The search operation is being conducted at premises of real estate developers, jewellers and some industrial houses. More details awaited.
Pune hosted a unique festival recently, where around 2,000 exquisite collections of pens were on display. The sixth edition of the International Pen Festival, which was held in the city’s JW Marriott Hotel on December 10-11, saw over 50 brands of Indian and foreign-made pens on display. “The idea behind the exhibition was to bring exquisite collections of pens from across India and the world, including different types of fountain pens, ball pens and roller pens,” organiser Surendra Karamchandani of Writing Wonders said.
As a tribute to former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, a special pen ‘Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Pen’ was launched at the exhibition with ‘I love India’ written on its nib. Kalam’s signature is also on the pen. The exhibition saw an overwhelming response, drawing over 2,000 visitors. “Pune is a special place owing to its rich history. This was an exhibition for every Pune resident who loves writing and collecting stationery, specially pens,” Karamchandani said. Read more
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday carried out a reshuffle of 30 senior IPS officers. Ritesh Kumar has been appointed Commissioner of Police (CP) of Pune City, replacing Amitabh Gupta. Vinay Kumar Choubey will take charge of Pimpri-Chinchwad police, replacing Ankush Shinde.
Kumar was the Additional Director General in the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Gupta had taken charge as Pune police commissioner in September 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak. During his tenure as Pune police chief, Gupta invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against as many as 114 gangs, 51 of them in 2022 alone. He also charged 89 history-sheeters with the MPDA Act or ‘Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug Offenders and Dangerous Persons Act, 1981’ known as Gunda Act. Read more
Pimpri Chinchwad police said they are dropping the attempt to murder charges invoked against the three persons who were arrested for the ink attack on Minister for Higher and Technical Education Chandrakant Patil. Police have also revoked the suspension of 10 policemen against whom action was taken for dereliction of duty in providing the security cover to the minister.
Pimpri Chinchwad police had invoked attempt to murder charges under Section 307 of IPC among other sections against three persons following the incident in which ink was thrown on Patil in Chinchwad on December 10. The attack on Patil had come a day after a statement he had made in Paithan town of Aurangabad district, which has stirred a controversy. Read more
A US-based forensic firm on Tuesday claimed that digital evidence used to arrestJesuit priest Father Stan Swamy in the Bhima-Koregaon case was “planted” on his computer’s hard drive, similar to two other cases involving human rights defenders Rona Wilson and Surendra Gadling.
Swamy, 84, who was an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, died in July 2021, while waiting for interim bail on medical grounds.
An examination of an electronic copy of his computer by Arsenal Consulting, a Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm, concluded that a hacker infiltrated his device and “planted” evidence, The Washington Post reported, citing a new report by the company. Read More
The state government on Tuesday approved investment proposals worth Rs 70,000 crore to promote industrial growth in Vidarbha, Marathawada, Nashik and Pune. The decision was taken at the fourth cabinet sub-committee meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. These investments are expected to generate 55,000 jobs.
At the meeting, the CM underlined the significance of incentives extended by the state government to give impetus to industrial development. He also emphasised on the conducive atmosphere in Maharashtra to attract investments.
Besides, he stressed the need for application of advanced technology in industrial sector. Read More
The Home Department of Maharashtra has announced a reshuffle of around 30 senior Indian Police Service (IPS) Officers in the state.
(Ankush Shinde at his office on Monday. Express Photo by Manoj More)
Ritesh Kumar will replace Amitabh Gupta as Commissioner of Police of Pune. Gupta has been transferred as Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) of Maharashtra.
Vinay Kumar Chaube will replace Ankush Shinde as Pimpri Chinchwad police commissioner. Shinde has been transferred as Police Commissioner of Nashik.
Normal life in Pune came to a halt as prominent Maratha organisation Sambhaji Brigade, under the banner of "Sarvdharmiya Shivpremi Punekar," called for a silent march and a bandh on Tuesday. See Gallery
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Amid protests by autorickshaw drivers in Pune demanding a ban on bike taxis, Rapido, which offers cellphone-based bike-hailing service, has said a ban would put in jeopardy the livelihood of 57,000 Rapido captains (bike riders).
“Micro mobility is the need of the hour in large cities across India. Services provided by Rapido are complementary to the existing mobility infrastructure, and fill up the important missing blanks by providing services for last-mile transportation,” said Rapido in a statement.
“The citizens of Pune deserve a reliable, on-time and cost-effective mode of transportation and Rapido fills in that purpose. If pushed into suspending services, Punekars will lose an option and will be at the mercy of the existing public transport infrastructure that is bursting at its seams,” the Bengaluru-based company said. Read More
The Rickshaw Panchayat has announced that autorickshaw services would resume tomorrow. A press statement by Rickshaw Panchayat said they would start their operations from December 14 but would continue their opposition to bike share operators.
Pune police have registered a case against 37 autorickshaw drivers for the protest staged by unions against 'bike taxis' operating in the city, an official said on Tuesday.
Several autorickshaw unions protested on Monday against ‘bike taxis' and parked their three-wheelers in the middle of the road at RTO Chowk, causing heavy traffic jams on the nearby routes.
The autorickshaw unions have demanded that the 'bike taxi' service, operated by Rapido, an app-based aggregator, be stopped in Pune. Meanwhile, Rapido, in a press statement, said the autorickshaw agitation had inconvenienced commuters and hardworking riders of the company. "The demand by the unions to stop bike taxi services in Pune is putting into question the livelihoods of 57,000 Rapido Captains in Pune and their families," the company said. (PTI)
Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Rajya Sabha member Udayanraje Bhosale on Tuesday demanded that it take action against Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi as it had done in Nupur Sharma's case.
Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, participated in a protest march organized by opposition parties in Pune city against recent statements by Koshyari and a few BJP leaders which were perceived as insulting Maharashtra's icons
Koshyari stirred up controversy last month when he called Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha empire, an "icon of olden times" at a public function. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi's statement that Shivaji Maharaj had `apologised' to Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb also evoked angry reactions in Maharashtra. (PTI)
An offence in the case of illegal road blockade by rickshaws has been registered at Bundgarden police station. Police have said that the blockade caused serious inconvenience to commuters that included hospital-bound patients, school children and transporters of essential commodities.
During the blockade, the stone was pelted to terrorise commuters and on-duty police personnel were obstructed from doing their work.
Police have booked union office bearers and rickshaw drivers under IPC sections for rioting, criminal force against public servants and disobeying government orders.
Pune City police said that they have arrested as many as 37 rickshaw unions office bearers and rickshaw drivers for staging a road blockade at RTO Chowk on Monday. Police have said that the blockade was held in spite of notices issued to them asking them to refrain from doing so.
The development came after the Maharashtra Governor said that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was an "old icon" while addressing a function at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad on November 19.
"If someone asks who your idol is, you don't have to go out looking for one. You will find them right here in Maharashtra. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has become an old idol now, you can find new ones -- from Babasaheb Ambedkar to (Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways) Nitin Gadkari," said Koshyari.
The statement sparked a massive furore and drew censure from Maratha organisations and opposition leaders alike. On December 6, the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) announced a massive protest march in Mumbai on December 17 against the Eknath Shinde government for insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute and demanding Koshiyari's removal. (PTI)
Express Photo by Pavan khengre and Arul Horizon
Over 4,500 police personnel and officers have been deployed across Pune on Tuesday in view of the bandh called by various organisations in protest against Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s controversial remarks on Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji, the city police said.
Around 1,100 personnel were deployed for the mook morcha or silent march from the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj statue in the Deccan Gymkhana area to Lal Mahal in Kasba Peth. Read More