Mumbai, Dec 18: Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Thursday launched a blistering attack on the Mahayuti government following reports of a debt-ridden farmer from Maharashtra allegedly selling his kidney in Cambodia to repay moneylenders.

The party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ editorial, titled “The Disgrace of the Soil”, described the incident not just as a crime, but as a “stain on the conscience of a state that calls itself progressive”.

The Thackeray camp, by linking this tragedy to the upcoming municipal elections, warned the “Marathi Manoos” that a government that cannot protect the physical integrity of its farmers cannot be trusted to protect the capital of the state. “Today it is a kidney; tomorrow, if these looters are not stopped, they will put the entire state up for auction,” it claimed.

The editorial highlighted the harrowing case of Roshan Sadashiv Kude, a farmer from Chandrapur in the Vidarbha region. After suffering total crop failure on his four-acre plot and losing his cattle to disease, Kude fell into a debt trap. Despite selling half his land, his tractor, and household belongings, he remained unable to meet the extortionate daily interest demands of Rs 10,000 imposed by local moneylenders.

The editorial noted with horror that it was the moneylender who allegedly “advised” and facilitated the farmer’s journey to Cambodia to sell his organ. “In the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, where farmers should be protected, they are being auctioned piece by piece in foreign lands,” claimed the editorial.

The Thackeray camp has accused the state administration of being “intoxicated by power” while ignoring the rural crisis. It pointed out that while the government is busy with “event management” and announcing pre-election schemes (Government Resolutions), the agricultural backbone of the state is collapsing. “The Deputy Chief Minister speaks of ‘New Maharashtra,’ but in this ‘New Maharashtra,’ a farmer has to cross international borders to sell his kidney to keep his family alive. The “administrative dacoity” regarding municipal looting has now extended to the very bodies of the poor,” it alleged.

The editorial slammed the police administration, saying that had it taken the action against the four money lenders, who have now been under arrest, in time, the farmer’s life could not have been devastated. At the national level, farmers are reeling under a debt burden of a whopping Rs 12 lakh crore, of which farmers from Maharashtra are bearing the burden of Rs eight lakh crore. It is so ironic that the Centre, which writes off the debt of industries, is not giving much-needed relief to farmers by providing a crop loan waiver, which is forcing the farmers to commit suicide.

According to the editorial, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had given a promise of crop loan waiver before the state Assembly elections, but now he has forgotten it after assuming power.

The Thackeray camp has demanded an immediate and “merciless” action against the moneylenders and the international syndicate involved in the kidney racket.

It has called for a high-level probe into the international organ trafficking links between Maharashtra and Cambodia, a debt waiver and an immediate audit of private moneylending practices in Vidarbha and Marathwada. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has demanded the resignation of the Agriculture Minister over this failure of the state’s safety net.

New Delhi, Dec 18: The ban on Dhurandhar by Pakistan and some Gulf nations has not affected its run at the box office. The movie is showing no signs of slowing down, but the ISI has a major problem back in Pakistan.

The movie, which deals with the 1999 Khandahar hijacking, Mumbai 26/11 attacks and also the Lyari gang wars, has not gone down well with the Pakistan establishment, and all attempts have been made to block it. However, the ISI has completely lost control over the digital space and attempts at a blackout have failed miserably.

At least 2 million illegal downloads of the film have been reported in Pakistan in just two weeks. It has gone on to become the most pirated movie in Pakistan, beating 2.0 and Raees. The ban in Pakistan may have cost the movie makers Rs 50-60 crore, but the message about Pakistan being a complete terror state has been sent across Pakistan.

Although it makes no difference to the Pakistanis about what their country is, it is a psychological win for India, which has managed to spread the message despite the movie being banned. The Pakistanis are in particular upset about the portrayal of Lyari. The establishment is so desperate to counter this narrative that it has decided to fast-track a film about Lyari showing the place in a good light.

“Indian movie Dhurandhar is yet another example of negative propaganda by the Indian film industry against Pakistan, especially targeting Lyari. Lyari is not violence — it is culture, peace, talent, and resilience. Next month, Mera Lyari will release, showing the true face of Lyari: peace, prosperity, and pride. #MeraLyari,” Sindh’s Senior Provincial Minister for Information, Sharjeel Inam Memon said on X.

The ISI, despite monitoring the internet relating to the movie, has completely failed to take control. Torrents and piracy links are all over the internet, which are being used to download the movie.

The Dark Web experts in the country are using the servers in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Malaysia to ensure that the Pakistanis are able to download the film illegally and watch it. The Pakistanis are downloading the movie through Telegram channels, underground streams and also the VPN. The very fact that it has gone on to become the most pirated film to date only shows that the ISI has failed to control the situation, and all attempts to blackout the movie have fallen flat.

Officials say that this surge in the number of downloads indicates the curiosity that the people in Pakistan have about the movie.

While some may not agree with the narrative of the film, many are appreciative of the acting in the movie. Many Pakistanis are creating reels and memes on social media, it has come to light.

The social media accounts linked to both the ISI and ISPR have been using smaller clips in the movie to mock the narrative India has set. They are trying to pass off the content with false narratives against India.

The agencies say that there are attempts by the ISI-linked social media handles to manipulate the content to suit the local narrative. Experts say that the manner in which the movie Mera Lyari is being fast-tracked for a January release and the way in which the ISI is desperately trying to block out the film suggest that the Pakistanis are on the defensive.

The fact that the curiosity around the film is growing with each passing day and the rate at which it is being illegally downloaded only shows that the ISI has failed in its actions, the expert also points out.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has also filed a legal challenge in a Karachi court questioning the images of the late Benazir Bhutto being used. The petition seeks an FIR against the cast and crew of the movie Dhurandhar.

The film’s star cast is led by Ranveer Singh, who plays Hamza, an Indian spy who infiltrates Pakistan’s Lyari to dismantle terror networks, which are backed by the ISI. The cast also includes Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal and Rakesh Bedi.

Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, in its report, stated that gold smuggling in the year 2024–25 remained concentrated in hotspots like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal, serving as entry points or redistribution hubs due to their strategic location, higher number of flights and transit routes.

In 2024–25, the DRI seized 1,073 kg of gold having a market value of approximately Rs 785 crore, the report stated. Mumbai emerged as the main hotspot for gold smuggling through airports, far surpassing all other locations in both the quantity of gold seized and the number of cases detected, the agency stated in its report.

According to the DRI, gold smuggling syndicates operate through a structured network: masterminds located abroad or in India fund operations, organisers recruit carriers, carriers transport concealed gold into India, and handlers receive gold for delivery to key members of the network in India for further sale.

Sometimes, gold smuggled in forms other than foreign-origin bars, such as wax or jewellery, is melted into 24-carat bar form at illicit facilities, sold domestically, converted into jewellery and integrated into domestic markets. Proceeds are usually repatriated abroad via hawala or illegal forex channels, sustaining a multi-layered, highly networked smuggling operation.

“Air routes, especially flights from the Middle East and Southeast Asia that connect to metro and Tier-II airports, are the primary channel for gold smuggling into India. Smugglers exploit diverse passenger profiles, including women, families and airline crew, to smuggle gold into India. Increasingly, smugglers are also concealing gold inside aircraft cavities for later retrieval by crew, passengers or airport staff. Sometimes, gold concealed in the aircraft during the international leg is retrieved by passengers during the domestic leg of the aircraft. Further, transit passengers smuggle gold via body concealment and hand it over to airport staff,” the report stated.

“A more sophisticated and dangerous method involves concealing gold inside the human body. Syndicates mould gold in wax form into small capsules, which are then inserted into body cavities to evade detection by scanners and manual checks. This trend reflects a growing shift towards high-risk concealment techniques that endanger the carrier’s health,” stated the report.

“The gender profile of gold smuggling carriers for 2024–25 revealed that the majority of individuals apprehended were male. However, the presence of women, making up one-tenth of the persons apprehended, highlights a growing trend of female involvement, possibly due to perceptions of lower suspicion during checks. The domicile profile of gold smuggling carriers in 2024–25 indicates that the overwhelming majority were Indian nationals, which highlights the dominance of domestic carriers in gold smuggling. Carriers from Kenya and Iran contributed modestly, with isolated cases involving carriers from Thailand, Turkey, Afghanistan, Oman, the UAE and the USA,” the report further stated.