Archives for 2024

Mumbai: Mumbai police on Tuesday arrested Mihir Shah, two days after the 24-year-old allegedly rammed his BMW car into a two-wheeler, killing a woman and leaving her husband injured.

Mihir, whose father is a leader of the ruling Shiv Sena, had fled after the fatal crash. Mihir was arrested near Mumbai, a police official said.

Police said Mihir Shah’s father Rajesh Shah took an active part in ensuring his son’s escape and also had plans to tow away the offending vehicle.

Mihir Shah was allegedly driving the BMW car which fatally knocked down Kaveri Nakhwa (45) and injured her husband Pradeep while the couple was on their two-wheeler in Mumbai’s Worli area Sunday morning, police said.

Mumbai police had formed 11 teams and also roped in the Crime Branch to nab Mihir Shah. A Look Out Circular (LOC) had also been put out against him, the official said.

Rajesh Shah and the family’s driver Rajrishi Bidawat, who were arrested in the case earlier, were produced in a Mumbai court on Monday and remanded in 14-day judicial and one-day police custody, respectively. Rajesh Shah was, however, later granted bail by the court.

A local court on Tuesday extended Bidawat’s police custody till July 11.

Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena head Eknath Shinde had asserted no one would be spared in the case.

The Ministry of Education on Tuesday reviewed the NCERT guidelines for implementation of bagless days in schools and said they will be further fine-tuned, according to officials.

PSS Central Institute of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), a unit of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), had developed comprehensive guidelines for implementing bagless days and make learning in schools more joyful, experiential and stress-free for students.

“Various suggestions were discussed during the meeting, including sensitising students about the local ecology, teaching them to test water purity, recognising local flora and fauna, and visiting local monuments. Based on this review, PSSCIVE will further fine-tune and finalise its guidelines,” a senior MoE official said.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 had recommended that all students in grades 6-8 participate in a 10-day bagless period.

During this time, students will intern with local skill experts and engage in activities outside of traditional school settings. This initiative aims to help students develop an appreciation for the larger ecosystem in which their school is embedded, the policy had suggested.

“Bagless Days will be encouraged throughout the year, encompassing a variety of activities such as arts, quizzes, sports, and skill-based learning.

“Students will gain periodic exposure to activities outside the classroom, including visits to historical, cultural, and tourist sites, interactions with local artists and craftsmen, and visits to various educational institutions within their village, tehsil, district, or state, as mapped by local skilling needs,” the official added.

Visit and survey of vegetable market; charity visit; survey and report writing on pet care; doodling, kite making and flying; organising a book fair; sitting under Banyan tree; and visiting a biogas plant and solar energy park are among the recommended activities in the NCERT guidelines.

Houston, Jul 9: Four Indian-Americans, including a woman, have been charged with allegedly running a human labour trafficking scheme out of a home in the US state of Texas, a media report said.

The Princeton Police Department released details of an investigation that led to four people being arrested after 15 women were found inside the home as alleged victims of human labour trafficking.

Chandan Dasireddy, 24, Dwaraka Gunda, 31, Santhosh Katkoori, 31, and Anil Male, 37, all arrested in March, are now charged with trafficking of persons, a second-degree felony, and more arrests are expected, the channel reported, quoting police.

The authorities found that all the young women, living in the same home, were forced to sleep on the floor at a home on Ginsburg Lane in Collin County, Princeton. “There was basically no furniture inside the home at the centre of human trafficking just a bunch of computer electronics and blankets,” police said.

Another news portal, McKinney Courier-Gazette said officers with the Princeton Police Department were dispatched on March 13 to a residence regarding a welfare concern and suspicious circumstance.

“After further investigation of the initial report, Princeton Police CID detectives obtained a search warrant for the home of Santhosh Katkoori, where 15 adult females were located. During the investigation, it was discovered that the females were forced to work for Katkoori and multiple programming shell companies owned by him and his wife, Dwaraka Gunda it said.

While the search warrant was executed, multiple laptops, cell phones, printers and fraudulent documents were seized. It was later determined that multiple locations within Princeton, Melissa, and McKinney were involved in the forced labouring of the victims, including adult males, the portal said, adding, additional laptops, cell phones, and documents were seized from the other locations.

The original concern was raised by a pest control company, which was called for possible bed bugs. “Once inside, the inspector noticed that each room had 3-5 young females sleeping on the floors. There were also large amounts of suitcases. The company contacted police.

The news portal quoted Princeton Police Sgt Carolyn Crawford who said over 100 more people are involved, “more than half of them victims.

However, she did not reveal what type of labour operation was happening.

The 17-year-old minor allegedly involved in the Pune Porsche car crash that killed two techies has submitted a 300-word essay on road safety complying with the bail conditions of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), an official said on Friday.

The teenager submitted the essay to the JJB on Wednesday, the official said.

The juvenile was released from an observation home last month after the Bombay High Court held that the orders remanding him to the facility were illegal.

Hours after the fatal accident in the city’s Kalyani Nagar area on May 19, the JJB had ordered that he be kept under the care and supervision of his parents and grandfather. It also asked the minor to write a 300-word essay on road safety.

According to the police, the minor was driving a Porsche car under the influence of alcohol when it rammed into a two-wheeler, killing two software engineers.

Amid a nationwide outrage over his quick bail on lenient terms, the police moved JJB, seeking an amendment of the bail order. On May 22, the board ordered that the minor be sent to an observation home.

The HC paved his release holding the orders illegal and stressed that the law regarding juveniles must be implemented fully.

The bodies of a 30-year-old woman and her three daughters, including a toddler, were found floating in a well in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, two days after they went missing, police said on Saturday.

Police suspect it to be a case of suicide, but the investigation is underway considering various angles.

According to police, the woman and her daughters went missing from their home in Mothe Sakode village on July 4, following which her husband Tukaram Deshmukh launched a search.

On Friday, a farmer spotted the body of a girl floating in a well situated on the banks of the Aaram river in Mothe Sakode village, police said.

“The body was fished out and was identified as the eldest daughter of Tukaram Deshmukh. Subsequently, two more bodies were fished out of the water. The deceased are identified as Sarala Deshmukh, Sandhya (7), Manshree (6) and Vedshree (18 months),” police said.

Police registered a case and launched an investigation.

 Months after former Maharashtra minister Ravindra Waikar switched over to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena from the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing has filed a closure report in a case against him for alleged irregularities in the construction of a luxury hotel here, an official said on Saturday.

Waikar is currently the MP from Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency. He defeated the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Amol Kirtikar by a thin margin of 48 votes as per the results declared last month.

Once a close aide of Uddhav Thackeray, Waikar joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena in March this year. He was a former standing committee chairman of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a four time corporator and MLA from Jogeshwari for four terms. He was Minister of State for Housing, Higher and Technical Education between 2014 and 2019.

As per the FIR registered against Waikar, he had entered into a contract with the BMC after getting permission to run a sports facility at a plot in Jogeshwari. The permission was granted when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in power. In early 2023, a notice was issued to him for using the plot of land reserved for a public garden to construct a hotel.

A Crime Branch official said, “The EOW filed a closure report in a court on Thursday in the case registered against Waikar, his wife Manisha and his four close associates. The reason mentioned for closure of the case is incomplete information and misunderstanding.”

As per the C-summary report, the complaint filed on behalf of the BMC was based on “incomplete information and misunderstanding”. The C-summary report is filed in cases where the FIR is found to be based on a mistake of fact.

Waikar, his wife Manisha, business partners Aasoo Nehlanai, Raj Lalchandani and Prithpal Bindra, and architect Arun Dubey had been booked on the charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy on the complaint filed by BMC sub-engineer Santosh Mandavkar. The case was initially registered at the Azad Maidan police station and the investigation was later transferred to the EOW.

In the wake of the EOW filing the closure report, the opposition targeted the Shinde-led government.

Congress leader Sachin Sawant alleged that the closure of the case against Waikar is another example of political blackmail going on in the state for the last 10 years.

“The chronology of the BJP washing machine is that party leader Kirit Somaiya will level allegations, file a complaint. The probe agencies will then scare the concerned person and his family with raids and investigation. The person will have to join the BJP or its ally and then he will get a clean chit,” he claimed.

Sawant also accused the ruling BJP of taking the state’s politics to a low level.

“In the Lok Sabha polls, people have cleansed the politics to some extent, but the work is still incomplete. The cleanliness drive of the Maharashtra politics will be complete in the assembly polls,” Sawant said.\

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, “Waikar ran away and left us after getting scared of the probe agencies. Now he has got a clean chit. What else can you expect? BJP should accept that it filed false cases to scare the opponents.”

“NCP leader Praful Patel’s properties that were attached were released. Even I was arrested over a false case. Why there is a case against me…Just because I am not switching sides,” he claimed.

 A 27-year-old man died on Saturday after collapsing during the police recruitment drive in Pune, an official said.

The drive is currently underway at the police ground in the city’s Shivajinagar area, the official added.

“Tushar Baban Bhalke from Sangamner in Ahmednagar collapsed during the mandatory run, which is part of the physical tests of the recruitment drive. He was rushed to a hospital where he died. Prima facie, it seems he suffered a heart attack. Further probe is underway,” the official added.