In Brief

On receiving complaints from the Dombivali Rickshaw Drivers8217; amp; Owners8217; Union, who suspected that the petrol pump supplied spurious petrol, the police raided the premises of United Indian Service on March 19 and sent samples of the petroleum products for analysis.

The report received by Manpada police last week reveals that the samples were not petroleum products, but chemical solvents. A police team led by Inspector D R Dube sealed off the United Indian Service godown on September 28 at 11.30 am and arrested owner Nitin Parikh and 23 others who were working in the godown.

The police also seized 95 barrels containing 2006 litres of solvents and Rs 2,81,124 in cash. A case has been registered under the Motor Spirit amp; High Speed Diesel Regulation Act.

Bird -watching programme

Bombay NaturalHistory Society BNHS has invited Indian bird watchers for World Birdwatch8217; and 8216;The Fifth NTT-ME World Bird Count8217; with a common theme: let8217;s find neighbourhood birds8217;.

The World Birdwatch8217; event, coordinated by the Birdlife Secretariat in Cambridge, UK, is engaged in publicising and increasing awareness about birds and their habitats. The Fifth NTT-ME World Bird Count8217;, encourages participants to count the number of bird species they see and send details of their sightings to NTT-ME headquarters in Japan. Indian bird watchers can coordinate with Zafar Ul Islam at BNHS via telephone or e-mail: bnhs bom4.vsnl.net in

Driver makes off with Rs 5 lakh

Naupada police have registered a case against a driver who made off with Rs 5 lakh belonging to his employer on September 28.

The driver, Dayashankar Yadav 35, a resident of Ulhasnagar, had been employed for the last 18 months by Thane businessman, Jitendra Yadav. Jitendra Yadav withdrew Rs 5 lakh from the Janata Sahakari Bank at B-Cabinroad and placed the cash-filled bag in the back-seat of his Ford Escort which was parked outside the bank.

He instructed the driver to take care of the bag while he completed other work. When he returned, he found to his shock that the driver and the bag were missing. A case has been lodged by the Naupada police under Sec 319 and Sub-Inspector A G Ramtake is tracing the whereabouts of the driver.

1 stabbed over card-game

A man was stabbed to death when a friendly card-game turned to violence in Cuffe Parade on September 28.

While Shankar Shetty was playing cards with his friends outside his house in the Ambedkar Slums, when he playfully punched Babu Abdul Sattar. Taking offence, Sattar rushed to home to get a knife and stabbed the unsuspecting Shetty in the chest. He was rushed to the St George Hospital, where he was declared dead before admission. Sattar had been arrested by the Cuffe Parade police station.

AGM results

Santosh R Shetty was re-elected as president of the Hotel andRestaurant Association at its 49th Annual General Meeting on September 10.Sunder N Awatramani and Suresh M Talera were elected as vice-presidents, while Vivek Nair and S P Jain were elected as the honorary secretary and jt honorary secretary of the Association. Sudheer Bahl is the new honorary treasurer. Shetty also took over as president of The Federation of Hotel amp; Restaurant Associations of India.