Mumbai Notes

Gangster shot deadMUMBAI, August 5: An alleged associate of Bahrain based gangster, Ali Baba Budesh, was shot dead by three unidentified ...

Gangster shot dead
MUMBAI, August 5: An alleged associate of Bahrain based gangster, Ali Baba Budesh, was shot dead by three unidentified men in a restaurant at Andheri east on Wednesday evening.

At around 5.45 pm, George Dias alias Joe was sitting with three unidentified men in New Bharat Restaurant and Store at Agarkar Chowk when the person seated behind him turned and fired three rounds at Dias at point blank range and escaped. Sustaining the bullet injuries on his head, Dias slumped to the ground. He was rushed to Cooper Hospital where he was declared dead before admission. Dias was allegedly an extortionist with links to Budesh. The killing was suspected to be the result of an 8220;intra-gang feud8221;. Officers from the Andheri police station stated that Dias was trapped by his own gang members. While he was talking to the trio one of them carrying mobile phone went out and his aides fired at Dias.

Mahanagar editor summoned
Editor of Marathi eveninger Mahanagar NikhilWagle has been issued summons on Tuesday to appear before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate at the Esplanade Court N B Pokharkar in connection with a defamation case filed against the newspaper. BJP leader Pramod Mahajan had filed a defamation suit against the editor, printer and publisher of the newspaper on June 22 this year following a front page report in the January 14, 1998 edition.

The article, Charged by ex-treasurer Use of black money on the rise of the BJP8217; written by an unnamed representative of the paper, had alleged that Mahajan had purchased a flat costing Rs 3 crore at Parekh Mahal at Churchgate. The article also alleged that Mahajan was helped by the father of state minister Prakash Mehta in finalising a deal for a hotel in the Panchgani farmhouse belonging to underworld don Iqbal Mirchi. The article was based on allegations by former treasurer and former BJP MLA Vinod Gupta.

Teachers stage demonstration
Teachers from Mumbai University and SNDT staged a three-hourlong demonstration at the Azad Maidan on Tuesday. The teachers affiliated to All India Federation of University and College Teachers8217; Organisations demanded the settlement of their various demands, said general secretary of Maharashtra unit of teachers8217; federation, C R Sadasivan. The demands include simultaneous implementation of the UGC recommendations on the Rastogi Pay Review Committee from January 1, 1996 without diluting the scales of pay and/or changing of the date of implementation; central funding for the implementation of the revised pay scales in all states from January 1, 1996 and assured promotion for teachers in the form of super-selection grade equivalent to that of professor.