‘Arrest Sambhaji Bhide By March 26’
After the state police arrested Milind Ekbote for the Bhima-Koregaon violence, pressure is mounting on the state to arrest Hindutva leader Sambhaji Bhide, also known as Bhide Guruji, next. On Thursday, Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) president Prakash Ambedkar demanded that Bhide must be arrested by March 26.
Addressing a press conference in Vidhan Bhavan, Ambedkar said, “There are some organisations which want justice. We all want Sambhaji Bhide to be arrested by March 26. We have given an ultimatum to the government. Else all these organisations will come marching to Mumbai.”
Bhide was as responsible as Ekbote for provoking the January riots in Bhima-Koregaon, Ambedkar said, and deserved to be arrested.
Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr BR Ambedkar, also said that while Ekbote was arrested on Wednesday, Bhide, the other prime accused, had not been booked yet, although the BBM has been raising a demand for his aresst since the day of the rioting.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
Metro III Delayed By 6 Months
The Mumbai Metro III project is running at least six months behind schedule and the delay is going to cost the state agency a whopping Rs 810 crore. The Rs 23,136 crore-project was expected to be operational by June 2021, but work on the BKC-Colaba stretch is way off the timetable.
According to MMRC, in package 1 between Cuff Parade and Hutatma Chowk, 31.7 per cent work should have been completed by end of January 31but estimates suggest only 17.9 work has been completed so far. On package 3 between Mumbai Central and Worli, the progress is lowest at 9.3 per cent as against the target of 28.4 per cent.
SK Gupta, director projects of MMRC told Mirror, “A one-day delay increases our cost by Rs 4.5 crore. Most of the delays have taken place due to court cases, hassles in getting permissions to cut trees and such.”
As per MMRC projections, around 30 per cent of the civil work on all seven packages should have been completed by end of January but only 18 per cent work has been completed so far.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
Mumbai: 76-Year-Old NRI Woman Goes Missing After Boarding Train From LTT
A 76-year-old NRI woman went missing after boarding a long distance train from the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in suburban Kurla, a senior GRP official said on Thursday. The woman, identified as Devikiamma Pillai, a South African national of Indian origin, had apparently come to India on a vacation last month.
She had put up at a guest house in south Mumbai's Colaba area on February 21, he said. On February 23, the woman boarded a train for Bhubaneswar from the LTT, but she did not reach there, as per her daughter, and has been missing since then, the Government Railway Police (GRP) official said. Her last mobile phone location was traced to Gondia in Maharashtra. Since then, her phone has been unreachable, he said.
The matter came to light on March 1 when Pillai's daughter, who was unable to contact her, called up the guest house from South Africa and enquired about her. She then got to know that her mother had left the guest house. The daughter told the guest house manager that she was not able to contact her mother and requested him to approach the local police, the official said.
(Source: Mid-Day)
Trained By Chintan Upadhyay, Thane Jail Inmates Paint Graffiti For Exhibition
Titled ‘Process of Decay’, a painting exhibition has given nine inmates lodged at the Thane central jail much to look forward to. These accused have painted a large graffiti depicting 10 stories under the guidance of Chintan Upadhyay, the artist who has been arrested on the charges of killing his estranged wife, Hema, and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani. While the organisers have managed to find a facilitator amongst the inmates, for Upadhyay the task has helped him battle depression, jail sources said.
“The practice followed by us is to provide a facilitator who conducts workshops for prisoners. Sometime around May last year, I met Upadhyay, who is currently lodged at the Thane jail, and requested him if he could be our facilitator at the Thane jail. He readily accepted the request and agreed to impart painting lessons to inmates,” Kavita Shivdasani of Dagar Pathway Trust told The Indian Express. “Now, their work is ready and we have decided to showcase it in the exhibition to be held over the weekend,” Shivdasani said. Other than the graffiti, there are 24 paintings that will be part of the upcoming exhibition called ‘Tabula rasa’ at the Cymroza Art Gallery.
Of these, six have been painted by inmates at Byculla jail, one from Nashik and 17 from Thane. “We have conducted many exhibitions as a part of our ‘Art from behind bars’ project. Every time we try a new theme. After looking at the paintings we decided to name the upcoming exhibition, ‘Tabula rasa’, a Latin word for clean slate. A chance to turn over a new leaf and start anew with a blank slate,” Shivdasani said.
(Source: Indian Express)
‘Illegal Construction’: Yash Raj Studios Get BMC Notice
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has slapped a notice on Yash Raj Films Studios at Andheri for “unauthorised construction/alteration” on its premises. In the notice, the civic body has asked the studio to either restore the existing building as per its earlier plan or apply for retention of work/modifications done “illegally” before the building and proposal department within a month’s time.
Failing to comply, the civic body has even warned the studio’s management that they would be prosecuted under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act. According to officials of K west ward, the studio was using its parking zone in the basement for commercial purpose and storage. In addition, they had made several changes and modifications to the plan approved by the civic body, the officials said.
“During an inspection of the studio, our officials found that they had undertaken/carried out development and made changes in the use of land which was not in accordance with the permission granted and in contravention of the permission which was duly modified. We have already issued a notice, we will decide on the next course of action later,” said Prashant Gaikwad, Assistant Municipal commissioner of K west ward (Andheri (W), Juhu, Vile Parle). Gaikwad refused to divulge any further information on the action taken.
(Source: Indian Express)
Teen Fights Mobile Phone Thief, Gets Assaulted, Dragged Till Footboard Of Mumbai Local Train
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An 18-year-old girl, who was travelling in a local train on the western line with her mother, was dragged up to the footboard of the compartment and assaulted by a thief when she refused to let go of her mobile phone, worth Rs38,000, that he snatched from her hand.
Miloni Parekh had to let go of her phone finally as she feared she would fall off the train, which started moving.
The incident took place on Saturday night, around 10.30pm, when Parekh, a fashion designing student, was travelling from Kandivli to Grant Road. Parekh said everything happened in a flash, within 20 seconds – the duration a local train halts at a station.
Parekh said she and her mother were seated in the second-class ladies’ compartment with their backs facing the door when the thief entered the compartment. “I was seated on the third seat of the bench with my phone in my hands,” she said. “As the train reached Santacruz, a man jumped inside and within the blink of an eye, pulled my phone from my hands. I tried to hold on to it but the young robber, who was wearing a white T-shirt, pulled at my mobile phone and dragged me till the footboard of the opposite door. I did not want to fall out and had to let go of my phone when he hit me on the back of my hand,” she said.
In the meantime, Parekh’s mother, Parul, pulled the chain. “The man jumped on to the track as the train began moving. There were about 12 other women in the compartment who shouted but no one helped. There was no constable in the train,” Parekh said.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
Lathicharge On Protesters: Aurangabad Police Commissioner Sent On Compulsory Leave, Says Devendra Fadnavis
Aurangabad police commissioner Yashasvi Yadav has been sent on compulsory leave and a high-level inquiry ordered against him following lathicharge and stone-pelting on protesters, who were demanding the removal of a dumping ground in their area. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday announced the decision to send him on leave and ordered a probe against him in the state Legislative Assembly.
Fadnavis said, “The government has taken the decision to send the Aurangabad police commissioner on compulsory leave. The investigation will be conducted by a committee headed by additional chief secretary (Home). The report will be submitted to the government with in a month.”
“Government has taken strict action following overall sentiments of the elected-representatives across party lines about the Aurangabad incident which is a matter of serious concern.” While maintaining that attack on protesters cannot be justified, he also underlined that there are reports about protesters attacking police. The entire matter would be thoroughly probed. Last week, locals had taken to the streets to oppose the dumping of garbage in Pagegaon Mitmita outskirts of Aurangabad city. The clashes between protesters and police lead to lathicharge and stone-pelting, injuring several people and police.
(Source: Indian Express)
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