1. Nitish Calls Lalu Prasad In Mumbai, Buzz Spreads
The phrase ‘never say never again’ is not a cliché in politics, it is a time-tested guiding principal.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar late on Tuesday evening called his friend-turned-foe Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is undergoing treatment in Mumbai at the Asian Heart Institute, to enquire about his health. The call, of course, created a buzz in political circles, triggering speculation of a rapprochement between the two.
The call was made when Lalu’s heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav was present with his father in his hospital suite Both sides, however, refused to comment on the call, and leaders, who did not wish to be identified, maintained that no politics was discussed.
Nitish quit the Janata Dal United (JDU) – Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) grand alliance in Bihar in July last year and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The two became each other’s bitter critics following the fallout – Nitish taking on Lalu for corruption charges and Lalu targeting Nitish on his volte-face on secularism.
But Tuesday’s call indicates the two may be getting close to each other again. And in the run up to the 2019 general election that is significant. But then, are they?
Some political analysts believe the call could just be posturing on Nitish’s part as he drives a hard bargain with the BJP for seat distribution in 2019.
Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council Kapil Patil, who is a former state president of JDU, said: “I would not characterize Nitish’s phone call as attempt to bury the hatchet with Lalu. It should be viewed more as an attempt to build pressure on the BJP for 2019.”
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
Chhota Rajan Acquitted In 35-Year-Old Murder Case
IN HIS first acquittal since he was deported in 2015, gangster Rajendra Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan was on Tuesday acquitted in a murder case dating back to 1983. Rajan was booked in the 35-year-old case, when he was a 22-year-old, with the police alleging that he and another accused had stabbed to death a fisherman and smuggler, John Pareira in Juhu on February 21, 1983. Rajan was arrested then, in what was reportedly the first murder case he was suspected to be involved in.
The police alleged that Pareira was killed due to rivalry over smuggling activities. Among the accused was Rajan Nair alias Bada Rajan, the protege of Chhota Rajan. While the accused were arrested after the crime, Chhota Rajan was released on bail and later declared an absconding accused as he did not appear before the court during the trial.
Subsequently, in 1996, seven accused were acquitted in the case. The trial against Rajan and another accused, Ganeshsingh Bisht, was conducted after Rajan’s deportation from Indonesia in 2015. Among the six witnesses examined by special public prosecutor Pradip Gharat were eyewitnesses including Pareira’s daughter, Helen.
(Source: Indian Express)
Chargesheet Against Rajesh Jhunjhunwala, 3 Others In Cheating Case
The MRA Marg police have filed a chargesheet against chartered accountant and investor Rajesh Jhunjhunwala, Director of RaRe Equity, and three others in a cheating and forgery case related to aprime office space in south Mumbai.
In 2013, one of the owners of Nagree Building, acommercial complex located opposite Old Customs House in Kala Ghoda, had filed a complaint against Jhunjhunwala, Uday Jasani, promoter of Jasani Realty, businessman Naresh Kapadia, and his sister-in-law for falsely converting the rented pagdi property into a 999-year-long agreement, and use it as collateral to avail a Rs 3.08 crore loan from Bank of India in 1997.
Two companies belonging to Kapadia – NCK Sons Exports and Atushi Securities – had rented an office space on the second floor of Nagree Building and contracts were signed in 1984 and 1994.
Zoeb Nagree, 77, who owns the building along with his brother Mansoor, had alleged that Mansoor’s wife Shama, 65, signed a No Objection Certificate (NOC) on lease agreement allowing it to be mortgaged even though she was not a landlord.
Zoeb also alleges that his signatures were forged on the lease and that he had only signed a tenancy agreement in 1994 and no other document after.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
Man From UP Arrested For Murder Of 34-Yr-Old Woman In Goregaon
The Mumbai Police Crime Branch Tuesday arrested a man from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly murdering a 34-year-old woman in Goregaon last week. The woman, Gudiya Nishad, was found dead in a home in Prem Nagar, Goregaon west, on Saturday afternoon.
According to the police, Nishad had been allegedly cheating on her husband, Jagdish, with a local resident Tajbahadur Bind, who had not been spotted in the locality since the murder.
Police said Bind had also been dating another woman living in Prem Nagar, but had hidden the fact from Nishad.
“On Saturday, the deceased came to know that the accused was cheating on her and also learnt the identity of the other woman,” said an official from Crime Branch unit 11.
In a fit of rage, the police said, Nishad abused Bind on the phone and rushed to the home of his other partner. “The accused also rushed to his partner’s home and met Nishad there. Nishad attacked him and tried to strangle him. But he picked up a knife lying in the house and stabbed her in the throat,” the official added. Later, the police recovered the body from the Prem Nagar residence.
(Source: Indian Express)
Deven Bharti To Depose In Sheena Bora Murder Trial
Senior IPS officer Deven Bhartiwill be examined by the prosecution during the trial of the sensational Sheena Boramurder case next week.
CBI court judge JC Jagdale on Tuesday summoned Bharti, currently the Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Mumbai, who was part of the probe before it was transferred to the central agency, for examination as a witness on July 2.
The court also agreed to defer the cross examination of a police inspector, who was part of the investigation in the 2012 murder.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
5-Day-Old Girl Found Abandoned Inside Mumbai Local Train
A five-day-old baby was found abandoned in a local train in Churchgate on Monday evening. According to the Government Railway Police (GRP) officers, they received a call from a commuter about an abandoned baby in the handicap compartment of the local, which terminated on platform number one. On reaching the compartment, towards Marine Lines, the officers spotted a new-born girl child, wrapped in a white cloth, on the seat.
The GRP officers admitted the infant to the Bombay hospital as she was weak. They said that they have registered a case and are trying to trace the parents of the child.
“We are trying to find out who left the child in the compartment. We are also trying to scan the CCTV recordings of all stations to find out who boarded the train carrying the child,” said a GRP officer.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
Hotelier Keshav Suri Weds Partner In Paris
THE scion and executive director of Lalit Hotels, Keshav Suri, got married to his partner Cyril Feuillebois in Paris, France, yesterday.
The two, who have been in a relationship for ten years, live at Suri’s Vasant Vihar home in New Delhi. Feuillebois runs an organic cosmetic company out of Delhi that teams French expertise with Indian ingredients.
Announcing the wedding on social media, Suri stated, “10 years of being miserable together, I loved every second of it. Lead the way for the next ten years babe, am sure it will be torture but I’m a sucker for punishment.”
Suri, 33. has been an active campaigner for LGBT rights in India. In April, he filed a plea in the Supreme Court saying he lived under the threat of false prosecution and is thus unable to live a life of dignity where he can exercise his choice to have relations with his partner whom he has been with for adecade now. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud had said that the petition will be tagged with a similar joint plea filed by five celebrities, which has been placed before a Constitution bench.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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