1. Mekhail Bora Claims Threat From Mom Indrani; CBI Approaches Court
Mekhail Bora, a prosecution witness in the Sheena Bora murder case, has written to the CBI alleging a threat to his life from his mother Indrani Mukerjea, the prime accused.
On Wednesday, the central agency approached the trial court in Mumbai, seeking a direction to authorities in Assam (Mekhail lives in Guwahati) to look into his safety.
CBI officer KK Singh, who filed the application before the court, said he received an email on Wednesday morning from Mekhail, saying he feared for his life and believed that his mother, accused of killing his sister Sheena Bora, would try and harm him too.
“The authority concerned in Assam is required to be informed about the threat to the life of the witness,” the CBI application stated.
The email alleged that Indrani, lodged in prison, did not want her mother Durga Ranee Bora’s will to be probated (certified as valid by the court), and hence was using various means to harass Mekhail.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
2. Eleven Convicted of Chhota Rajan Aide’s Murder
Eleven men were on Wednesday convicted of the murder of Farid Tanasha, a top aide of gangster Chhota Rajan, in 2010. While six, including the assailants who barged into Tanasha’s house in Tilak Nagar on June 2, 2010 and shot him dead, were sentenced to life imprisonment, five others were sentenced to 10 years in jail by a special court.
According to the prosecution, accused Dattatraya Bhakare wanted to develop a plot in Tilak Nagar. Society members didn’t agree to his terms and approached Tanasha for help. Special public prosecutor Raja Thakare submitted that as Tanasha supported the members, Bhakare conspired with gangster Bharat Nepali and Vijay Shetty to kill him.
The prosecution examined 84 witnesses, including eyewitnesses to the incident, Tanasha’s wife, niece and an aide present at home. Tanasha’s wife Reshma had deposed before the court in February 2017, identifying the two shooters who had entered the bedroom of their home and shot Tanasha. Among the six handed life imprisonment are Mohammed Sakib, the main shooter who shot Tanasha; Randhir Sinh, who fired shots in the air; Jafar Khan, who police claimed had arranged the shooters; Raviprakash Sinh and Pankaj Sinh, who were present with the shooters at Tanasha’s home.
Source: The Indian Express
3. Shortage of Motormen Leading to Cancellation of CR Locals Every Day
Over 40 Central Railway suburban trains were cancelled in the past five days because there were no motormen to run them, but every time the official reason given for the cancellations was ‘technical problems’.
According to Central Railway sources, the suburban section currently has nearly 20 per cent of the total motormen’s posts vacant. The division currently has 690 motormen against the sanctioned strength of 898.
While Divisional Railway Manager, Central Railway, Mumbai division, Sanjay Kumar Jain on Wednesday denied any shortage of motormen, a copy of motormen register clearly states “acute shortage of motormen” as the reason for a majority of cancellations.
For instance, 10 Main Line and 14 Harbour Line services were cancelled on May 27 due to “shortage of motormen.”
Source: Mumbai Mirror
4. Govenment Should Act Against Bhide, Says Vikhe-Patil
The state government should take action against right-wing leader Sambhaji Bhide for allegedly describing “Manusmruti” as the first book of law, Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said on Wednesday.
Bhide at a function in Nandurbar hailed Manu and his “Manusmruti”. He allegedly described “Manusmruti” as the first book on law.
The Congress leader said, “How can anybody endorse ‘Manusmruti’. It goes against secularism. It also amounts to insulting the Indian Constitution.”
Vikhe-Patil said, “The state government should take action against Bhide.”
Source: The Indian Express
5. Banking Services in Maharashtra Hit As 60,000 Employees Go on Two-day Strike
Banking services in Maharashtra were crippled as nearly 60,000 employees from various banks went on a two-day nationwide strike on Wednesday, protesting the meagre 2% wage hike offered by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).
Nearly 10 lakh employees working in various branches of 21 public sector banks, 13 old generation private sector banks, six foreign banks and 56 regional rural banks across the country went on strike following IBA’s nominal wage revision.
“Bank employees are on strike to demand an adequate wage revision to all employees and officers,” Devidas Tuljapurkar, Maharashtra convenor of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), said.
Around 60,000 bank employees and officers in Maharashtra, including 25,000 bank employees and officers in Mumbai, are on strike, he claimed, adding that nearly 12,000 branches across the state are shut.
Source: Hindustan Times
6. Zoroastrian Community Opposes Metro: ‘Tunneling May Damage Fire Temples, Wells Could Run Dry’
Five members of the Zoroastrian community, who approached the Bombay High Court last week against the construction of the Colaba-Bandra-SEEEPZ Metro 3, have argued that tunneling work under two Atash Behrams or sacred fire temples at the Princess Street-Kalbadevi junction could be detrimental to its “spiritual circuits” and “devastate” Zoroastrian religious sentiments worldwide. They also contended that the construction may cause structural damage to heritage buildings and wells on their premises to run dry.
The High Court’s 13-page order recorded “the case of petitioners as pleaded in the petition”. One of the 14 paragraphs that recorded the contentions of the petitioners stated that if tunneling for the Metro is allowed under the premises of Atash Behrams, “the spiritual circuits will be breached and negative forces of physical and spiritual nature will attack the holy fire, thus diminishing its spiritual prowess.” The petitioners contended that it is “virtually impossible to consecrate a fire temple of the highest degree, which is an Atash Behram”.
The High Court’s order of May 23 also recorded the petitioners’ contention that there are only eight Atash Behrams in India and the last Atash Behram, Zarthosti Anjuman Atash Behram, was consecrated over 122 years ago and it may no longer be possible to consecrate an Atash Behram “because of non-availability of trained priests and the complex rituals”.
Source: The Indian Express
7. Mumbai Ready to Tackle Monsoon Flooding This Time, Say Mmrda and Bmc
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other state agencies responsible for infrastructure and civic amenities in the city have assured the government about their preparedness for the incoming monsoon.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis also called on the defence forces to lend a helping hand in dire situations. “The Indian Navy, Air Force and National Disaster Response Force should deploy their manpower and logistics required for the rescue and relief operations as deployed every year,” he said.
The civic bodies have claimed due precautions have been taken to avoid possible flooding from the Metro projects and that the cleaning of the culverts and nullahs will be completed by end of this month.
The BMC, MMRDA, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and the defence forces presented their plans for managing the monsoon in the presence of CM Fadnavis on Tuesday.
Source: Hindustan Times
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