Former media executive Indrani Mukherjea comes out of the Byculla Women's Jail after getting bail in the Sheena Bora murder case, in Mumbai, Friday. (PTI)Mumbai News Highlights: More than six years after she was arrested for allegedly murdering her daughter Sheena Bora, former media executive Indrani Mukerjea on Friday evening was released from Byculla women’s prison. Mukerjea was granted bail on Wednesday by the Supreme Court.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Friday announced that he will be postponing his Ayodhya trip that was to take place on June 5. In an attempt to shore up its declining electoral fortunes and occupy the Hindutva space left partially vacant due to the Shiv Sena’s joining hands with the Congress-NCP, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray had announced his intent to visit Ayodhya.
Mumbai’s pollution levels continued to be high for the second consecutive day on Friday with the city recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 286, a meagre drop in levels after recording an AQI of 309 on Thursday. An AQI between 201 and 300 is categorised as ‘poor’. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and health concern.
In other news from the city, the BMC issued a notice stating that all shops and establishments in Mumbai — irrespective of size — should use Marathi signboards in the Devanagari script predominantly by May 31.
The Anti Narcotics Cell of Mumbai Crime Branch arrested a Nigerian national allegedly with 400 grams of mephedrone worth Rs 60 lakh, a police official said.
Taiwo Ayodole Samson (34) was nabbed from Goregaon on Wednesday, he said, adding that the man had arrived here on a business visa. (PTI)
Mumbai on Friday reported 213 Covid-19 cases, a slight dip from the 223 witnessed a day earlier. The recovery count rose by 155 to touch 10,41,766, leaving the metropolis with an active caseload of 1,144.
Of the 213 new cases, only nine required hospitalisation, including one needing oxygen support, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said. (PTI)
Former media executive Indrani Mukerjea on Friday walked out of Mumbai's Byculla women's prison, over six years after she was arrested for allegedly murdering her daughter Sheena Bora. “I am so happy,” a beaming Indrani (50) told waiting reporters.
As she stepped out of the jail, her changed appearance attracted notice. Gone was the grey hair seen during her court appearances. Instead, the hair was now dyed black and a little smile was playing on her lips as she faced reporters. “I learnt a lot in jail," she said. "I am going home. I have no plans. Just want to go home,” Indrani said.
“My faith in judiciary is restored. All should respect laws of the country. There may be delay but there is justice,” she told reporters outside her Worli house. (PTI)
Asked if she blamed anyone for her incarceration, Indrani mentioned empathy and forgiveness. “I have forgiven all the people who have hurt me. That's all,” she said.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Friday alleged that the BJP government at the Centre was raising religious issues to divert people's attention from real problems and added that his party would continue to seek answers in the interest of common citizens.
"The current situation in the country is extremely worrying. The rupee is depreciating daily, and inflation and unemployment has been rising sharply. The BJP is diverting public attention from key issues by raising religious and communal matters." "The Modi government has failed on all fronts. It should take decisions to give relief to people. The Congress will continue to raise important issues in public interest and will seek answers from the Centre," he added. (PTI)
The tussle between the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government and the Opposition led by the BJP is not only playing out in the political field but also in courtrooms. Even in cases where there is no direct face-off, they have tried to use the cases to score political points.
The BJP and Centre seem to be holding the upper hand. As it reaches the half-way mark, the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government finds two of its ministers in jail, and several court reservals on its hand, including on Maratha and OBC reservations. Omkar Gokhale and Sadaf Modak write..
A team of the Maharashtra forest department, aided by the reserve police as well as the Mumbai police, has demolished the illegal structures on 100 acres of forest land at Sai Bangoda near Vihar Lake, officials said.
“We removed all encroachments from the Sai Bangoda plot. We removed huts, fencing and have also made trenches so that encroachers do not enter again,’’ G Mallikarjun, director of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, within which the lake is located, told The Indian Express. Read More
A special court Friday sent two men arrested last week in connection with a case filed against fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim to judicial custody for two weeks. Brothers Arif Abubakar Shaikh and Shabbir Abubakar Shaikh were arrested on May 13 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and later they were sent to the agency’s custody till May 20 by a special court.
On Friday, the NIA did not seek further custody of the accused and prayed for them to be sent to judicial custody. Special Judge Prashant R Sitre sent them to judicial custody for two weeks. Read More
Six years and nine months after she was arrested for allegedly murdering her daughter Sheena Bora, former media executive Indrani Mukerjea on Friday evening walked out of the Byculla women’s prison here.
Supreme Court had granted Indrani bail in the case on Wednesday.She came out of the prison around 5.30 pm and was seen leaving in a car. Her lawyer was present to receive her outside the prison. As she stepped out of the prison, Indrani smiled at the mediapersons. Read More
A special court on Friday rejected the bail application of former Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze in connection with a money-laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Waze, through his lawyer Sajal Yadav, sought bail stating that he was never arrested during the probe and keeping him in custody is not required. Yadav had also argued that other accused who were similarly not arrested during the probe were granted bail. Read More
The Sahar police arrested two men of a gang of five persons, which also has a woman, who tried to honeytrap a businessman at a five star hotel by making the woman get intimate with him and later demanding Rs 10 lakh. The gang threatened the businessman that if he fails to cough up the money, they would file a false rape case against him.
The incident took place on May 17 at 6.30 pm at a hotel near the Sahar airport. The 47-year-old businessman, a Kandivali resident, had booked the room for a day. The arrested accused, Irfan Shaikh, 28, and the woman Pooja came to the businessman’s room to have food. Sometime later, Shaikh returned, leaving her in the room with the businessman. Read More
The Central Railway has decided to increase the toy train services for the Matheran-Aman Lodge section from Friday to May 31 considering the summer season.
Currently, a total of 16 toy trains or shuttle services function on the Matheran-Aman Lodge section, which will now be increased to 20. Read More
BJP MLA Ashish Shelar has hit out at the Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the civic body’s lack of monsoon preparedness and alleged that only 35 per cent nullah cleaning work has been completed in Mumbai.
Shelar’s statements came after he, along with several other BJP corporators, inspected progress of the nullah cleaning work in Mumbai on Thursday. BJP leader in the municipal corporation Prabhakar Shinde, party leader Vinod Mishra and spokesperson Bhalchandra Shirsat were also present. Read More
Mumbai’s pollution levels continued to be high for the second consecutive day on Friday with the city recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 286, a meagre drop in levels after recording an AQI of 309 on Thursday.
An AQI between 201 and 300 is categorised as ‘poor’. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and health concern. Read More
The railway police on Thursday arrested two persons who were caught on camera at Virar railway station assaulting a commuter and robbing him by pushing him on a moving escalator in the wee hours of Sunday.
The duo, identified as Karan Karva (20) and Shahrukh Khan (19), were arrested from Charni Road railway station and are residents of Mumbai, the officer said. Read More
The delay in construction of Delisle Bridge has caused hardships for commuters and residents wanting to access the business district of Lower Parel. While the demolition of the nine-decade-old bridge, constructed by the British, began in August 2018, the new bridge that was expected to be completed by 2022 has not yet become operational. Laxman Singh writes..
The state Finance Department has decided to raise a loan of Rs 2,000 crore to fund the developmental programmes of the state.
The government stock, up to 10 per cent of the notified amount of the sale, will be alloted to eligible individuals and institutions subject to 1 per cent of the notified amount for a single bid. Read More
Shiv Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday reiterated that the party will contest the sixth Rajya Sabha seat and said former MP Sambhaji Raje should join the Sena to get elected to the Rajya Sabha.
On Thursday evening, Sambhaji Raje met Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray at his official residence, Varsha bungalow. Read More
Mumbai is prepared for the upcoming monsoon, state Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray said on Thursday. But he also said that this monsoon season, the city could face extreme rainfall and flash floods, considering the extreme winter and summer.
The minister on Thursday held a review meeting on pre-monsoon preparations in the city on issues like road repairs, tree trimming and nullah cleaning. Read More
MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Friday announced that he will be postponing his Ayodhya trip that was to take place on June 5.
In an attempt to shore up its declining electoral fortunes and occupy the Hindutva space left partially vacant due to the Shiv Sena’s joining hands with the Congress-NCP, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray had announced his intent to visit Ayodhya.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday floated a tender to construct an Urdu centre in Mazgaon.
While the BMC is presently being governed by an administrator after the term of the sitting corporators ended on March 7, the project is said to be the brainchild of the Shiv Sena and is located in an area represented by former chairperson of BMC’s standing committee, Yashwant Jadhav, whose wife Yamini is the MLA of Byculla constituency in which the project is located. Read More
An MoU was signed between the Maharashtra government and private entrepreneurs to provide quality accommodation to tourists at Mahabaleshwar, Matheran, Mithabaw, Harihareshwar & Tadoba.
Under these agreements, special concessions will be approved for the developers to provide accommodation facility through PPP modules on MTDC properties. (Inputs from ANI)
Mumbai's single-day coronavirus infection tally crossed the 200-mark on Thursday after a gap of three months with 223 new cases, the civic body said.
With 223 fresh cases, Mumbai's caseload increased to 10,62,040, while the fatality figure remained unchanged at 19,566 as no patient succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, an official said.
There are 1,002 active patients in the city now after 124 patients were discharged today. Mumbai's recovery rate is 98 per cent and although the number of cases is rising, there is neither any containment zone in the city nor any building has been sealed so far, the official said. (PTI)
The Congress Thursday said there was a scam to the tune of Rs 9,380 crore in the construction of 14,000 housing units for Project Affected People in Chandivali, Mulund, Bhandup and Parel.
The party said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has given undue benefits to various developers under the project by allotting Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) and premium for the construction of the housing units in December last year and January 2022. Read More
A day after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) stated that 60 metres gap in the navigation span between the two pillars of the Coastal Road interchange is sufficient, the fishing community in Worli said it is preparing for more protests at the construction site.
Construction work on the project was stopped for over two months due to the protests earlier and losses had run into crores of rupees. With machinery lying unused at the site, freight charges, manpower and other overhead expenses, BMC had then estimated that the halting of work had led to a loss of Rs 5 crore per month. Read More
A special drive will be undertaken against manufacturers and dealers of e-bikes whose battery capacity is augmented or per hour speed limit is increased illegally, the Maharashtra Transport Commissioner's office said on Thursday.
As per a statement issued by the transport commissioner's office, the decision to undertake the drive was taken against the backdrop of reports of mishaps involving such vehicles.
The transport commissioner's office has urged manufacturers, dealers and citizens to not make illegal alterations in their vehicles, and if any such change has been made in a vehicle, it should be restored immediately, the statement said. E-bikes with the battery capacity of less than 250 watts and per hour speed limit below 25 km are exempted from registration. (PTI)
Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 316 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest daily count since March 12, but no new fatality linked to the infection, while the active tally crossed the 1,700-mark, the health department said. The tally of active cases stands at 1,720.
Mumbai alone recorded 223 coronavirus cases, making a major contribution in the state tally in the last 24 hours. On Wednesday, the state had recorded 307 cases and one fatality due to the respiratory illness. The coronavirus recovery rate in the state stood at 98.10 per cent. (PTI)
A 31-year-old man died after a slab from an under-construction residential building fell on him in the western suburb of Malad here on Thursday, police said.
The incident took place at Zakaria road in Malad (west) in the afternoon, when the victim, Raj Kumar Soni, stepped out to answer nature's call and a slab from the building fell on him, an official said.
Soni was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival, he said, adding that the deceased was employed at a jewellery store located in the building. (PTI)
From the Thackerays to the Mundes, family spats in the public have become a leitmotif of Maharashtra’s politics.
On Wednesday, estranged cousins and political rivals Dhananjay Munde of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the BJP’s Pankaja Munde took digs at each other during the inauguration of renowned ophthalmologist Dr Tatyarao Lahane’s hospital in Mumbai in the presence of NCP president Sharad Pawar. The two leaders took the jibes through a play on the word lens, one of the tools of an ophthalmologist’s trade. Zeeshan Shaikh writes..
A hoarding warning of strong repercussions across Maharashtra if Raj Thackeray came to any harm has cropped up in south-central Mumbai, ahead of the MNS chief's Ayodhya visit next month.
Thackeray is going to visit Ayodhya on June 5, but BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh recently demanded that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief first apologise for `humiliating' north Indians in the past before visiting the city.
'The entire Maharashtra will rise up in rage if even a strand of Raj Thackeray's hair is harmed,' said a hoarding put up by MNS functionary Santosh Nalwade in Lalbaug area.
It featured photographs of Thackeray, his son Amit and MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar. Earlier, Nandgaonkar had issued a similar warning after he received a letter threatening Raj Thackeray. (PTI)
As bail formalities could not be completed today, Indrani Mukerjea will be released from Byculla women's prison tomorrow.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said the ruling Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress can easily win one seat each in the upcoming polls to six Rajya Sabha seats from the seat, while the BJP could bag two seats comfortably. (PTI)
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said the state government will approach the Supreme Court once the committee formed to collect empirical data for the OBC quota submits its report to the government next month. (PTI)
Lawyer Sana Raees Khan, representing former media executive Indrani Mukerjea, approached the trial court to complete bail formalities. Mukerjea, booked for the alleged murder of her daughter, Sheena Bora, was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Two week's time was granted to her to furnish solvent surety in the sum of Rs 2 lakh. Accused shall scrupulously observe conditions imposed on her by the Supreme Court, special court said.
The Panvel police have arrested a man for allegedly posting objectionable comments against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar. The accused has been identified as Kiran Inamdar against whom an FIR was registered along with Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale, who was also arrested by the Thane police for posting similar content.
According to a police source, Ketaki Chitale had posted a defamatory post about Sharad Pawar on Facebook and a similar post was shared by Inamdar. A First Information Report was then registered at the Panvel city police station against him. However, he had been untraceable since then. Read More
A 63-year-old woman was allegedly duped of Rs 2.38 lakh by a cyber fraudster who sent her a text message asking her to pay her electricity bill and tricked her into revealing her bank details using a remote access application.
In the first information report (FIR) registered at the Park Site police station on May 17, the complainant told the police that she lives alone in Powai and is a lawyer by profession. On May 16, she said, she was travelling to Bandra for work when she received a text message asking her to pay her pending electricity bill. The woman said she later got a call from a person who posed as an employee of a private company supplying electricity. Read More
A passenger slipped and fell down while trying to board a moving train 17057 Devagiri Exp at the Dadar station on Wednesday. RPF constable Chandan Thakur and others pulled him away from the tracks in time and saved his life.
Over two months after the Worli fisherfolk submitted the independent study report regarding the navigation span between the two pillars of the Coastal Road interchange, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday said that a report/comment they have received from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) has stated that the distance between the pillars for the project proposed as 60 meters by the civic body is sufficient.
Chakradhar Kandalkar, chief engineer of the project, in a statement, said that as per the report received from the research institute, the distance between the two pillars to be erected under the project is 60 meters, that is 200 feet, which is sufficient. Read more
Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a money laundering case against Actor Shilpa Shetty's husband and businessman Raj Kundra in connection with the production and circulation of pornography films.
ED sources said Kundra formed a company named Arms Prime Media Limited in February 2019 and developed an app named 'Hotshots'. Hotshots app was later sold to a UK based company Kenrin. Notably, the CEO of Kenrin, a UK based company, is Pradeep Bakshi, who is actually Raj Kundra's brother-in-law.
Sources further said that the Hotshots app was actually a platform for porn movies, which were made in India and uploaded on the Hotshots app to offer subscriptions. (ANI)
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Thursday shut Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra for five days after a mosque committee in the area tried to lock the place Wednesday, officials said.
On Tuesday, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) spokesperson Gajanan Kale had in a tweet questioned the need for the monument's existence in the state and said it should be destroyed.
Kale's comment came after AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi’s visit to the tomb earlier this month was criticised by the ruling Shiv Sena as well as by the BJP and the Raj Thackeray-led MNS.
To make books easily available to slum residents, especially schoolchildren and youths, and encourage them to take up reading, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has decided to implement ‘Zopadpatti Tithe Library’, a project under which libraries will be set up at every the slum pocket in the city.
In the first phase of the project according to the NMMC, it will start building libraries in ten slums with the aim of stimulating an interest for reading in school-goers. Read more
The BMC has planned to install flood gauges with sensors across the city to measure waterlogging levels during the monsoon. Initially, the civic body will install these flood gauges at around 100 locations. The project is likely to be kicked off this monsoon.
According to officials from the BMC, there is no mechanism at present to understand the level of floods in Mumbai. As per the data available, there are 386 flooding spots in Mumbai; BMC has taken mitigation measures at 280 of these spots. Read more
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday instructed ministers from the Shiv Sena to speed up various development works the party legislators’ constituencies and be prepared to fight and win the party’s second Rajya Sabha seat and the upcoming local body polls.
Sena sources said the party chief took up various issues at the meeting with ministers. “The CM has instructed ministers from the Shiv Sena to fast-track development works in the party MLAs constituencies. He has also asked them to not only oversee pending work in their respective districts but also an additional district assigned by the party,” said a Sena minister on condition of anonymity. Read more
The BMC on Wednesday again issued a notice stating that all shops and establishments in Mumbai — irrespective of size — should use Marathi signboards in the Devanagari script predominantly by May 31.
The order stated that if the signboard displays the name of any shop or business in more than one script, the one in Devanagari font should be bigger. The font of the Marathi-Devanagari script cannot be smaller than that of other scripts. Read more
Independent MP Navneet Rana and her husband, MLA Ravi Rana, told a special court on Wednesday that they did not breach any condition imposed by the court that granted them bail in connection with a case filed against them for announcing that they would recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree, the private residence of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai.
Earlier this month, the Mumbai Police had moved a plea stating that their bail should be cancelled, as they had breached the conditions set by the court by making statements about the case to the media. Read more