2006 Mumbai Train Blasts News Live Updates: Court rejects plea of death sentence convict who sought action against prosecution witnesses

A man from Thane city lost nearly Rs 5 lakh in cyber fraud after he relied on the results of a Google search to seek refunds for his cancelled trip to an African nation, an official said on Wednesday. In his police complaint, the man said that he had booked return tickets to the Kenya capital Nairobi as he and his friend wanted to visit the city of Mombasa. The tickets were booked for April 29 and May 05 and he paid Rs 1.46 lakh for them. (PTI)

A container carrying cars caught fire on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway at Chinchpada village near Mendhwan in Palghar. No injuries were reported in the incident. However, all the cars being carried in the container were destroyed.

Air India on Wednesday said it has increased the number of daily flights to Dubai from Mumbai as part of the network alignment process between the airline and Air India Express. Between Mumbai and Dubai, the airline now operates up to 6x daily flights in both directions. For most of the week, this means eight flights a day each way to Dubai from the city, it said in a release.

A 42-year-old share broker strangled his 11-year-old daughter with a rope before using it to hang himself at his central Mumbai home, an official said on Wednesday. Police are yet to establish the reason behind the murder-suicide, but they have recovered a note purportedly written by the stockbroker, Bhupesh Pawar, blaming his wife. Pawar first killed his daughter Arya with a rope at his home in Ganesh Galli, Lalbaug, on Tuesday afternoon. He then hanged himself using the same rope, the official said. (PTI)

A professor from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city has been booked for allegedly raping a student for over a year and harassing her parents, an official said on Wednesday. The professor's wife has also been named in the first information report (FIR) for supporting the professor in the alleged crime and telling the complainant that they wanted a son from her, the official said.

The FIR was registered at Begumpura police station on Tuesday night under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (rape), 109 (abetment), 114 (abettor present when offence is committed) and 504 (intentional insult).

Maharashtra Public Works Department (PWD) minister Ravindra Chavan has said that despite instructing officials that there should be transparency in departmental postings, he has not been getting enough success. Chavan said he has often told engineers to create something that they can claim to be theirs after superannuation.

"I have tried to tell this in every departmental meeting that there should be transparency in postings," Chavan said at a news conference on Monday.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has decided to launch an agitation against a proposed petroleum refinery at Barsu village in Maharashtra's coastal Ratnagiri district amid protests against the project by local residents.

A decision to this effect was taken on Tuesday at a meeting of Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs called by party president Thackeray in Mumbai. The meeting was called to take a stand on the multi-billion project and decide the future course of action.

The decision was taken on a day when the Ratnagiri police arrested 111 people, most of them women, during a protest against the proposed refinery, an official said.

A fire destroyed a makeshift godown that stored plastic and materials for hoardings in Maharashtra's Thane district in the early hours of Wednesday, an official said. No one was injured in the accident at Kausa in Mumbra, said Avinash Sawant, chief of the Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) of the Thane civic body.

The fire broke out at the godown around 5.10 am, he said.Two fire engines and water tankers were sent to the spot and the fire was brought under control in nearly two hours, he said, adding that the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray is trying to strengthen the party but Kalyan-Dombivli, a stronghold of MNS, suffered a major setback as on Tuesday, 150 party workers led by Rupesh Bhoir, reached Matoshree in two buses and joined Shiv Sena-led by Uddhav Thackeray in the latter’s presence in Mumbai.

Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 722 fresh Covid-19 cases and three fatalities, taking the tally of infections to 81,62,842 and the death toll to 1,48,507, the state health department said. The fresh cases rose thrice compared to Monday when 226 infections were recorded in the state. No Covid-19 fatality was recorded a day before.

One person has been arrested for allegedly breaking into a house and stealing valuables worth more than Rs 70 lakh in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place on Monday when the accused broke into a house in Kashimira area and decamped with cash and jewellery worth Rs 70.12 lakh, senior inspector Aviraj Kurhade said.

Amid claims by the rival Shiv Sena faction that he was on his way out, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told reporters on Tuesday that the reports that he was "on leave" were wrong. Shinde is on a three-day visit to his home district. Speaking to reporters at Mahabaleshwar, he said he has been reviewing various works, meeting people and holding meetings with officials since arrival in the district.

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday transferred or promoted 11 Indian Police Service officers between the ranks of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) to Additional Director General of Police (ADG). According to the orders issued by the home department, senior IPS officer Sanjay Saxena has been transferred as ADG Law and Order at the state police headquarters in Mumbai. Anup Kumar Singh has been posted as Principal Secretary of the home department.