1. Truck Driver Lynched in Mumbai for Harassing Woman, Says Police
Palghar police arrested three persons for allegedly lynching a truck driver on the Bhiwandi-Manor highway on Monday. The driver, identified as Harendra Singh (48), was targeted for allegedly passing comments at the wife of one of the accused in the lynching case.
Besides passing comments, the truck driver allegedly blocked the woman’s path and did not allow her two-wheeler to overtake the truck. The woman called up her husband, who, along with two of his friends, chased the truck driver and after forcing him to stop, allegedly beat him to death.
The incident took place around 7.30pm when Singh was headed for Silvassa from Bhiwandi. On the Bhiwandi-Manor highway, he saw the woman riding a two-wheeler. He is alleged to have passed lewd comments at her and harassed her by blocking her path.
Source: The Indian Express
2. 1993 Blasts Death Row Convict Tahir Merchant Dies in Pune
Tahir Merchant, one of the convicts in the March 1993 Mumbai serial blasts who was sentenced to death, died of a heart attack in Pune on Wednesday, a police officer said.
Merchant, who was lodged in the Yerawada Central Jail, suffered a heart attack in the prison around 3 am and was rushed to Sassoon Hospital. He breathed his last around 3.45 am, said Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) BK Upadhyay.
On September 7, 2017, Merchant, 55, was sentenced to death by a Special TADA Court here for conspiring, facilitating and knowingly commissioning acts of terror leading to the March 1993 serial bomb explosions in Mumbai, which killed 257 people and injuring 700 others.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
3. Prakash Ambedkar: Raids on Dalits to Destroy Proof
Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh president Prakash Ambedkar on Wednesday alleged that the raids on Dalit activists in which the Maharashtra Police seized electronic gadgets was intended to destroy evidence pertaining to the Koregaon-Bhima riots of January 1.
He told reporters that the police have confiscated laptops and other materials to prove the link between Hindutva leader Sambhaji Bhide alias Bhide Guruji, who heads the right-wing organisation Shiv Pratishthan, and the riots.
Besides, there was prof connecting another right-wing leader, Raosaheb Patil, with the violence, said Prakash, the grandson Dr BR Ambedkar. Patil had allegedly appealed to his followers to kill CM Devendra Fadnavis and Pune’s Guardian Minister Girish Bapat.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
4. Surendra Hiranandani Is a Citizen of Cyprus Now
Real estate tycoon Surendra Hiranandani, co-founder of the Hiranandani Group, has given up his Indian passport to become a citizen of Cyprus, an island nation in Eastern Mediterranean.
Hiranandani, 63, who along with his elder brother Niranjan turned their real estate company into one of the largest in the country and developed Powai into a thriving residential area, joins a growing list of Indian dollar millionaires (those worth at least Rs 6.5 crore) who are ditching Indian citizenship for tax havens in Europe and the Caribbean islands.
Hiranandani confirmed having given up Indian citizenship, telling Mumbai Mirror that taxation was the last thing on his mind when he made such a decision.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
5. Ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik Joins BJD
Former Mumbai Police commissioner Arup Patnaik on Wednesday joined Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Bhubaneshwar in the presence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He is the fourth IPS officer from the state – after former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh (BJP), IPS officers PK Jain (RPI-A) and V V Lakshminarayana – to take the plunge into politics in recent times.
“I joined BJD today in the presence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and 10 cabinet ministers. My innings with the police department was successful and today, I am starting a new innings in life. I will be focused on the development of Odisha,” said Patnaik, who was inducted into the party at a function held at the CM’s residence in Bhubaneshwar on Wednesday.
Naveen Patnaik told media persons that Patnaik will “prove to be an asset to the party”.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
6. Mumbai Crime: Maria Susairaj, 9 Others Booked in Rs 15 Crore Fake Loans Case
The anti-extortion cell of Thane police has booked Maria Susairaj and nine others for cheating several businessmen, contractors and others in a Rs 15 Crore fake loan case. Susairaj, an actor, has previously served three years impronment for the murder of Neeraj Grover, a TV producer.
The case of fraud came to the fore after a Thane-based builder alleged that the gang had promised him a loan of Rs 30 crore, and instead, he had been cheated of Rs 3 crore, a sum which they had demanded as security. When the businessman inquired about the status of his loan, the proceeded to send several fake cops to his house who threatened to implicate him in fake cases.
Of the nine accused, Susairaj, a Gujarat-based man and a private bank employee are absconding. Meanwhile, the anti-extortion cell with Pradeep Sharma at the helm, arrested 32-year-old Parumita Chakravarty alias Banerjee 32, 54-year-old Hendry Nicolas Fernandez, 51-year-old Sneha alias Anita Sudhir Vedhpathak alias Deshpande, and 51-year-old Milind Raghunath Kadam.
Source: Mid Day
7. Elderly Parsis to Act As Baby-sitters
In what might be viewed as a winwin for Parsis of all age groups, the Jiyo Parsi programme, currently in its second phase, will rope in senior citizens (60 years and older) to take care of Parsi children up to the age of 10. The Jiyo Parsi programme is funded by the government and supported by UNESCO’s PARZOR (Parsi-Zoroastrian) Foundation and Bombay Parsi Punchayet.
To help stem the decline of Parsi population and encourage couples to have more than one child, the selection for this initiative will be based on the number of applicants, the kind of childcare support a person can provide and personal interviews. A panel will scrutinise all the applications by August 2018. Thereafter, the applicants will need to get their personal details verified by a representative of the Anjuman/Punchayet. The child service will be regularly monitored by a Jiyo Parsi counsellor.
“For lack of caregivers, working couples are reluctant to have a second child. Some creches do not treat children well, and yet they charge as high as Rs 6,000 per child. We feel that senior Parsi neighbours or grandparents could do the same, for which they will be paid Rs 3,000 per child. However, to ensure the safety of children, senior citizens will need to go through a scrutiny panel,” said Dr Katy Gandevia, programme co-ordinator, Jiyo Parsi programme.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
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