Mumbai News Highlights: Maharashtra reports 1,193 cases, 39 deaths; Mumbai logs 319 infections

The Bombay High Court's vacation bench on Wednesday rejected the pre-arrest bail plea by Sam D’Souza, the man who allegedly brokered a deal purportedly between actor Shah Rukh Khan's manager Pooja Dadlani and panch witness K P Gosavi in the Cordelia cruise ship drug raid case to "help" Aryan Khan after his arrest in the raid by the NCB.

The Dadra and Nagar Haveli bypoll defeat, coming on the back of the loss in Deglur assembly seat in Nanded, has jolted the Maharashtra BJP, with state chief Chandrakant Patil likely to convene a core committee meeting after Diwali to ascertain the possible reasons for the poor show.

The saffron party suffered the poll debacles despite an aggressive poll campaign.

In Deglur, Congress candidate Jitesh Antapurkar defeated BJP nominee Subash Sabane.

The Deglur bypoll was a “prestige issue” for Congress PWD minister Ashok Chavan. With the Congress candidate pulling off an easy victory, Chavan has been able to prove to his detractors that he still retains a lot of support among his home base. Read More

Over 300 civic body and government-run vaccination centres will remain shut for four days, starting Thursday to November 7, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said. The vaccination process will resume on November 8, the civic body added.

Even though BMC did not state a reason behind halting the vaccination process, the decision was likely taken in view of Diwali festivities. Earlier, BMC had halted the vaccination drive during the Ganapati festival for a day in September.

Meanwhile, a significant drop in the daily inoculation numbers is being reported in the city since October. The month saw a drop of 39 per cent in vaccination figures as compared to September. On Tuesday, only 32, 739 citizens visited 463 centres at the civic body-run, government and private hospitals, which have a daily capacity of inoculating 90,000 people. Read More

Sam D’Souza, who was named as the person who allegedly brokered a deal, purportedly between actor Shah Rukh Khan’s manager Pooja Dadlani and panch witness K P Gosavi in the Cordelia Cruise ship drug bust case to “help” actor’s son Aryan Khan, has approached the Bombay High Court with an anticipatory bail plea. He has sought three working days’ notice before any coercive action is taken against him.

A vacation bench of Justice S P Tavade, is likely to hear the plea this evening.

The Maharashtra government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into complaints of alleged extortion against NCB officers and other private individuals. In his plea, D’Souza has said that certain politicians from the ruling government have taken his name in press conferences and he feared his arrest over the same. 

He also claimed that Gosavi took Rs 50 lakh from Dadlani to get Aryan released and said that panch-witness Gosavi and Prabhakar Sail are “fraud and main conspirators’. D’Souza said he ensured money was returned to Dadlani through her husband. Read More

The Covid-19 vaccination will remain suspended at civic and government-run centres in Mumbai for next four days in the wake of the festive season, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Wednesday. 

The civic body in a statement also appealed to citizens to cooperate with it. The vaccination drive will remain suspended at the civic and government-run centres from November 4 to 7, it said.

The BMC has sufficient stock of vaccines, so the inoculation drive will resume from Monday, it said.

According to the BMC's data, a total of 1,42,62,513 doses of vaccines against COVID-19 were administered in Mumbai till Tuesday. So far, 53,63,755 citizens have received both doses of vaccine. (PTI)

The Income Tax Department has provisionally attached assets allegedly linked to the family of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions (PBPT) Act, 1988, as part of an ongoing investigation, sources told The Indian Express.

The tax authority has also issued show cause notices to owners of the attached properties, the sources said. However, Pawar’s lawyer said in a statement that no assets have been seized or any notice issued, and that the IT Department has only “sought clarifications on some issues”.

According to sources, the properties under the scanner include the Jarandeshwar Sahakari Sugar Karkhana (Jarandeshwar SSK) in Satara, a resort in Goa, a flat in an upscale Delhi locality, an office at Nirmal Tower in South Mumbai, and 27 land parcels across Maharashtra. Read More

An 11-year-old boy from Andheri lost his left eye on Monday evening while bursting firecrackers near his house at Gilbert Hill road in DN Nagar area.

The DN Nagar police said that the boy, identified as Sai Bharankar, was bursting firecrackers along with his friends when the sparks from burning crackers injured his left eye and nose.

“He lit a firecracker and covered it with three boxes. But as it did not burst, he went close to check on it and as soon as he picked up the boxes, the firecracker burst and caused injuries on his eye and nose,” said senior police inspector Milind Kurde of DN Nagar police station. Read More

Right-wing outfit Shri Shiv Pratishthan Yuva Hindustan (SSPYH) on Wednesday came out in support of Narcotics Control Bureau zonal chief Sameer Wankhede in Mumbai. A group of activists belonging to SSPYH gathered outside the NCB office in Mumbai to express solidarity with Wankhede for fighting against drugs.

The organisation showered flower petals as Wankhede walked to the office. They also presented him a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The organisation assured their support to Wankhede in the fight against illicit drugs across the state.

The Kurar police have registered a case of extortion against an unknown person who allegedly posed as a Gujarat police inspector and tried to extort money from Shiv Sena MLA Sunil Prabhu. The incident occurred last Thursday when the Kurar Police received a call from a person who claimed to be “Police Inspector Ramesh Singh from Sanjan Police Station in Gujarat”. Singh needed information about a case that he was investigating. When Police Inspector Manoj Chalke, who is the complainant in the case, called Singh back, the latter claimed he had arrested a person with illegal firearms who had confessed to a murder.

Nearly 41 lakh passengers travelled on local trains on Monday, the first working day after the state government allowed fully vaccinated people to buy single or return journey tickets apart from the monthly, quarterly and six-monthly season tickets. Approximately 4.24 lakh people bought the single or return journey tickets on Monday. The railways expect that since daily tickets are being issued now, the number of daily passengers is likely to touch 60 lakh after Diwali.

Read more

The Mumbai police have rescued two minor girls from a hotel in Dongri area and arrested three men who allegedly kidnapped them with a promise of providing jobs abroad, an official said on Tuesday. The police recently arrested Abdul Latif Mainuddin (24), a native of Assam, Amar Farooq Irshad Mandal (40), a resident of Santacruz, and Kais Abbules Sheikh (45) from Govandi, the official said.

The matter came to light when the mother of one of the 15-year-old girls approached the police from Oman, claiming that she had left the girl in the custody of one of the accused persons, who had promised to send her daughter to her in a month's time, he said. When the accused did not send the girl, the complainant became worried and reached the city to lodge a complaint of kidnapping, the official said.

The police checked over 40 hotels in the city and finally found the minor at a hotel in Dongri along with another girl, he said. The trio has been booked under section 365 (kidnapping) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and further probe is underway, the official added. (PTI)

One person was killed and six injured after the beam on the pillars of an under-construction bridge in Uran in neighbouring Navi Mumbai collapsed on Tuesday, police said. The incident took place in Jasal at around 4 pm, a police official said.

"One person has died and six are undergoing treatment for their injuries. One of them is in a serious condition," he said. As per the preliminary information, 13 people were working on the under-construction bridge at the time of the incident. (PTI)

Sam D’Souza, who was named as the person who allegedly “brokered a deal” — purportedly between Pooja Dadlani, actor Shah Rukh Khan’s manager, and K P Gosavi, a panch witness in the Cordelia cruise ship raid case — for a payoff to “help” Aryan Khan, has claimed that Gosavi was paid Rs 50 lakh, but he (D’Souza) made him return the money.

Prevailing weather conditions and firecracker emissions will aggravate the high smoke level and push the air quality into ‘very poor range’ a day after Diwali, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). The air quality is likely to improve from November 6.

The Bombay High Court was recently informed by the central government that the process is under way to obtain the President’s assent to a Maharashtra government amendment that allows the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) to redevelop or repair dilapidated and cessed buildings to protect the interest of occupants of such structures.

Yes Bank Ltd has taken possession of Hotel Hyatt Regency building and a plot of land situated close to the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in the city, after its parent company Asian Hotel (West) Ltd defaulted on loan repayment of Rs 267 crore. Hyatt is an American hospitality company that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels. It is managing the Mumbai property on a contract basis on behalf of Asian Hotels (West).

Read more

Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 1,078 fresh Covid-19 cases, a rise of 269 from a day ago, and 48 new fatalities, up from 10 the previous day. With this, the statewide coronavirus tally rose to 66,12,965, while the death toll increased to 1,40,274, a department official said. More than a dozen districts/municipal corporations did not record any fresh Covid-19 case. A total of 1,095 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours, taking the number of recoveries in Maharashtra to 64,53,581 and leaving the state with 15,552 active cases. (PTI)

The Bombay High Court recently allowed plea by the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), clearing way for the construction of a passenger jetty at Kelwa and a Ro-RO jetty at Kharwadashri in Palghar and another passenger jetty at Kharekuran in Thane, while holding that the projects are being undertaken without substantial destruction of mangroves and approvals granted by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) and the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).

The Income Tax Department has provisionally attached assets allegedly linked to the family of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions (PBPT) Act, 1988, as part of an ongoing investigation, sources told The Indian Express.

Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik on Tuesday targeted NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede for his ‘lavish lifestyle’ and made public his sister Yasmeen Wankhede’s purported WhatsApp chats with a now-jailed drug peddler.

One person was killed and six injured after the beam on the pillars of an under-construction bridge in Uran in neighbouring Navi Mumbai collapsed, police said.

The incident took place in Jasal at around 4 pm, a police official said. "One person has died and six are undergoing treatment for their injuries. One of them is in a serious condition," he said.

As per the preliminary information, 13 people were working on the under-construction bridge at the time of the incident.

CBI Tuesday filed two separate chargesheets against six persons, including a serving commander of the Indian Navy and two retired officers, for allegedly leaking information related to an ongoing submarine project in return for illegal gratification.

The agency had in September arrested five persons, including serving and retired officers, and has since arrested one more serving officer of the Indian Navy.

“The chargesheeted officers have been identified as Commander Ajit Kumar Pandey, Commander (retired) S J Singh and Commodore (Retired) Randeep Singh apart from three private individuals who are office bearers of a Hyderabad-based company that sought the information,” CBI sources said. All the accused have been chargesheeted under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act.

Read more

head of the BMC elections, likely to be held next year, corporators across party lines questioned the administration over water shortage in various parts of Mumbai, despite dams being filled to full capacity. The corporators also questioned the disparity in water distribution.

Opposition party corporators alleged that water supply in some areas was purposely being tampered with to ruin the image of the corporator in that ward. Congress corporator and opposition party leader Ravi Raja, who raised the issue, said that in areas of Sion Koliwada there have been water-related problems since October 16.

Education committee chairman and Shiv Sena corporator Sandhya Doshi said that her phone was filled with messages from people over water supply problems in her ward in Borivali. Additional Municipal Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar, who was present at the meeting, said that while he did not have specific details about the water problem in Ravi Raja’s ward, he admitted that the water situation was good in the lakes.

Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has been sent to Enforcement Directorate's custody till November 6. He was produced by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) before a special holiday court for his remand hearing in the money laundering case.

ASG Anil Singh, representing ED, said the agency has strong evidence against the former home minister. Meanwhile, Advocate Vikram Chaudhari, appearing for Deshmukh, said the petition in this case is still pending in Supreme Court. He also said the NCP leader has not been keeping well.

Maharashtra BJP MLA Ashish Shelar has demanded that a narcoanalysis must be conducted on Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik over the series of disclosures that the latter has made over the last few weeks. “Nawab Malik has always been secretive and has fabricated things. Also, the allegations levelled by him are quite serious. There is a possibility that Malik may have more information. And hence the state government must conduct a narco test on both Malik and the two others against whom he has levelled allegations to ensure clarity,” the former minister demanded.

Shelar pointed out that for the last 15 to 20 days (since Aryan Khan’s arrest), Malik has been coming out with disclosures every day. “But the information is general in nature and does not pertain to any case. It is vague. Thus, it raises questions on whether Malik is using a diversionary tactic or concealing real information. If he has inside information about drugs and peddlers, why is he withholding it?,” he sought to know.  

“We will make it absolutely clear that it is not the job of the BJP to give a character certificate for Sameer Wankhede. Action must be initiated against those involved with drugs. The BJP believes that no one must be spared. And hence our opponents must refrain from diverting the subject unnecessarily,” he said. 

Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh was produced before the special holiday court by ED in money laundering case on Tuesday. Deshmukh's lawyers asked the court to allow them to speak with him for instructions. ASG Anil Singh for the ED opposed this, but the Court allowed Deshmukh to speak to his lawyers for five minutes.

Due to technical reasons Local train services between Virar railway station and Dahanu Road railway station on the Western Railway line was suspended on Tuesday until further information.

The Income Tax (I-T) Department has provisionally attached assets linked to the family of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, said sources. The tax authority has provisionally attached Jarandeshwar Sahakari Sugar Karkhana (Jarandeshwar SSK) in Maharashtra, a resort in Goa, a flat in a posh locality in Delhi and an office at Nirmal Tower in South Mumbai, among others.

On October 7, the tax agency had searched a firm where Pawar’s son, Parth, is a director; a few firms owned by Pawar’s sisters; two real estate firms linked to Pawar, and premises of directors of four sugar mills across the state reportedly indirectly linked to the Pawar family.

Subsequently, on October 15, the tax agency said it has unearthed unaccounted income worth Rs 184 crore after its searches at premises of two real estate groups in Mumbai linked to the family of Ajit Pawar.

WHILE MAHARASHTRA is inching towards the 10-crore vaccination mark, inoculation in six districts is lagging, with less than 50 per cent of the population having received at least one shot. These six districts are Aurangabad, Hingoli, Nanded, Akola, Buldhana and Nandurbar, as per the data released by the central government on Sunday.

The Thane Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) has awarded a compensation of Rs 9.03 lakh to the family of a brick kiln worker killed in a road accident here in Maharashtra in 2018. In the order issued on October 27, a copy of which was made available on Tuesday, MACT member R N Rokade directed the opponent MSRTC to make the payment to the claimants along with an interest of 7.50 per cent per annum from the date of filing of the claim.

In their petition, the claimants - the deceased's wife, four children and mother - informed the tribunal that the victim, Ravindra Gage (35), worked in a brick kiln and also as a farm labourer and earned Rs 500 per day. 

Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case, was on Tuesday taken to the state-run JJ Hospital in south Mumbai for a medical check-up, an official said.

Deshmukh was arrested by ED late Monday night after over 12 hours of questioning in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged extortion racket in the state police establishment.

Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh's arrest is politically motivated and aimed at maligning the image of the state's Maha Vikas Aghadi government leaders, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said on Tuesday. Hitting out at the Centre, Malik, a minister in the Maharashtra government, said scaring leaders by abusing power should be stopped.

"The entire action (of arresting Deshmukh) is politically motivated. It is aimed at scaring the leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance)," Malik told reporters.

Maharashtra on Monday reported 809 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest additions in a day after May 2, 2020, and ten fatalities.  The tally of cases now stands at 66,11,887 and the death toll at 1,40,226.

The BJP on Monday held a protest against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s alleged manipulation in the ward boundaries ahead of the upcoming BMC elections likely to be held in February 2022.

Eighty two BJP corporators in the civic body protested outside the office of Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Chahal and gave him red roses as a mark of protest. The BJP has alleged that the final draft of the ward boundaries was made by the civic body under Shiv Sena’s pressure. However, Sena has denied the allegations.

A local court on Monday remanded dismissed API Sachin Waze to police custody till November 6 in connection with an extortion case registered against him in suburban Goregaon.

The city police's crime branch on Monday took Waze's custody in the case, based on the complaint of builder-cum-hotelier Bimal Agrawal, in which former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh is also an accused. The dismissed cop was in judicial custody after his arrest in March by the NIA in the Antilia bomb scare and Mansukh Hiran murder case.

The crime branch produced Waze before a metropolitan Magistrate's court here and sought his custody for ten days to conduct probe. 

Mumbai on Monday reported 267 new coronavirus infections, the lowest daily count since August 23 this year, and four fresh fatalities, while 420 patients recovered from the infection, a civic official said. With these additions, the tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 7,56,214, while the death toll increased to 16,251, the official said.

The city has logged less than 300 COVID-19 cases after a gap of four days. 

The financial capital has reported the lowest number of COVID-19 cases since August 23 this year, when it had registered 226 infections besides four fatalities.

The official said the city is left with 3,689 active COVID-19 cases after 420  patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the number of recovered cases to 7,33,738.

The Western Railway has withdrawn the halt of Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express at Andheri Station with effect from Friday. 

According to officials, when the Tejas express was started by IRCTC, the Western Railway had stated the halt at the Andheri station would be temporary and can be withdrawn in the future. The Tejas Express will now stop at Borivali station after departing from Mumbai Central station. "Passengers who have reservations at Andheri stations will be allowed to travel through alternative stations," railway officials said.

Passengers, however, feel that considering the festive season a prior notice of at least a week or two should have been given and demand that the railway administration should reconsider its decision to cancel the stop as Andheri station was convenient for passengers.

Mumbai police's cyber crime department urged people to not fall into the trap of frauds in the guise of "lucky draws" ahead of Diwali.

Fraudsters are sending different offers with titles like 'online shopping lucky draw contest' as well as scratch cards and letters in the name of reputed e-commerce firms to people claiming they have won prizes ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, an official said.

"They then ask people to deposit an amount in order to claim the prize. However, the process is aimed at cheating people. No one should take part in such contests and should alert police instead," he added. (PTI)

The Mumbai Crime Branch took the custody of dismissed police officer Sachin Waze in connection with an extortion case registered against him at suburban Goregaon, an official said.

After taking Waze's custody, the crime branch personnel took him to the Esplanade court to seek his further remand for interrogation in the case. A special court last week allowed the Mumbai police to take the custody of Waze, who was lodged in Navi Mumbai's Taloja jail, for interrogation in the case.

Former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh is also an accused in the case. (PTI)

A 40-year-old woman died after a fire broke out at a house in Shilphata area in Diva town of Thane district on Monday. The victim has been identified as Sapana Patil.

According to Thane Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) officials, the fire started around 11:30 am at Vetal Pada, Padle Gaon, Diva on Monday and resulted in the collapse of a wall. Personnel from the fire and the disaster management departments reached the spot and started rescue work.

Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh appeared before the Enforcement Directorate's office Monday to record his statements in the money laundering case against him. Deshmukh has appeared before ED after skipping at least four summons by the agency.

Deshmukh had approached the Bombay High Court seeking to quash the ED summons against him. However, the court last week refused to quash these summons. So now he has appeared before the ED.

CROWDS FLOCKED to Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) on Sunday to catch a glimpse of 40 cars that participated in India’s first ever car rally dedicated to modern classics. A modern classic is a car that is generally between 10 and 30 years old.

The rally featured around 40 iconic cars manufactured between the 1970s and the early 2000s. The cars were driven in a convoy over the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and returned to Sofitel Hotel, BKC.

In his latest comments on the Cruise ship drug case, Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik on Monday alleged that a jailed convict in the case has relations with former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

To corroborate his allegations, Malik took to Twitter to show that Jaydeep Rana, currently in jail with the drug trafficking case, was the financial head of a famous River song by former CM's wife Amrita Fadnavis. Malik also posted a purported picture of Rana standing with Fadnavis in another tweet.

THE CENTRAL Bureau of Investigation Sunday arrested an alleged middleman, Santosh Shankar Jagtap, in connection with its probe into the alleged bribery and corruption charges against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

The CBI is probing Deshmukh for exercising “undue influence” over the transfer and posting of police officials as alleged by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. Sources said Jagtap came under the CBI scanner after it went through the recording of interception of phone numbers done by former Maharashtra DGP Rashmi Shukla to authenticate complaints of corruption in police transfers and postings.

FORMER GENERAL secretary of BJP Mumbai Mohit Bharatiya (Kamboj) filed a Rs 100 crore defamation suit against NCP minister Nawab Malik for dragging him and his family members in the Mumbai cruise drug case.

Kamboj said: “Today, I have filled the damages suit against Nawab Malik for Rs 100 crore in High Court in Mumbai for making baseless allegations against me and my family.”

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday expressed concern over what said was a slow pace of coronavirus vaccination in the state, adding he will take up the issue during an interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week. Thackeray also said vaccine hesitancy was also an issue besides the unavailability of vaccines and asked more and more people to shed their inhibitions and get vaccinated.

In an informal interaction with senior journalists at his official residence Varsha in the posh Malabar Hill area in south Mumbai, Thackeray, flanked by wife Rashmi, did not entertain any queries on politics.

An earthquake of 4.3 magnitude was recorded in Sironcha taluka of Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district on Sunday, officials said. No damage to property or loss of life was reported due to it, a district official said. "The earthquake measured 4.3 on the Richter scale. It was recorded at 6.48 pm," he said. 

Mumbai city reported 308 new cases and three deaths, due to which its case count grew to 7,56,749 and toll to 16,247. Mumbai division, which comprises the city and its satellite towns, recorded 515 cases and nine deaths. It took the infection count of this region to 17,00,848 and fatality figure to 35,542. 

Maharashtra on Sunday reported 1,172 new coronavirus positive cases, which raised the infection tally to 66,11,078, while the death of 20 patients pushed the toll to 1,40,216. A total of 1,399 patients recuperated and were discharged from hospitals during the day. With this, the state's recovery count reached 64,50,585. There are 16,658 active cases in Maharashtra at present. The state's COVID-19 recovery rate is 97.57 per cent and fatality rate is 2.12 per cent.