Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested five more accused from Karjat in connection with the Baba Siddiqui murder case, as informed by the police.

The accused have been identified as Nitin Sapre (32), Sambhaji Pardhi (44), Ram Kanojia (43), Pradeep Thombare (37), and Chetan Pardhi (27). So far, the police have arrested a total of 9 accused in connection with this case.

When the five accused were presented before court, they were remanded to police custody until October 25. Nitin Sapre, one of the accused, has three cases registered against him, including charges of murder and attempted murder.

He is a resident of Dombivli and works as a parking attendant, as informed by the police. The police have speculated that a Turkish Tisas weapon might have been used in the shooting of Baba Siddiqui. During the investigation so far, the police have seized a country-made pistol, along with Australian and Turkish Tisas weapons.

It has been revealed that the five accused arrested today had provided these weapons to the other accused, Dharamraj Kashyap and Shivkumar Gautam, according to the police. In the Baba Siddiqui murder case, the Crime Branch has arrested five more accused from the Karjat area.

The arrests were made after a night-long search operation in the area, where the accused had been hiding since the murder. The police gathered information from informants, technical evidence and managed to trace the accused.

Wanted accused Shubham Lonkar and arrested accused Ram Kanojia were both in contact with notorious wanted criminal Zeeshan Akhtar.

How the five accused came into contact: In 2017, five individuals committed a murder in Ambernath. In this case, Nitin Sapre, Chetan Pardhi, and Sambhaji Pardhi, along with two other accused, were held in Kalyan’s Aadharwadi Jail. Ram Kanojia was also incarcerated in the same jail for a separate attempted murder case. This is how all the accused met each other at Aadharwadi Jail. Ram Kanojia used to work at a construction site.The police have informed that Nitin Sapre and others were granted bail in 2022.

Mumbai: The schedule for the Maharashtra assembly elections was announced by the election commission on October 15, and since then Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into effect in the state. In a significant action against violation of the code of conduct, the enforcement agencies have seized a whopping property costing Rs 10.64 crore in the last three days. The authorities also informed that a total of 420 complaints regarding violations of the MCC were received on the C-Vigil app, of 414 are resolved.

As per the statement issued by the authorities, “The Model Code of Conduct for the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections came into effect on October 15, 2024. Between October 15 and October 18, 2024, a total of 420 complaints were received across the state through the C-Vigil app, out of which 414 complaints have been resolved by the Election Commission.”

Notably, 256 complaints were addressed within 100 minutes. The highest number of complaints were resolved in Thane district.

“Since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct for the Assembly elections, various enforcement agencies of the state government have seized illegal cash, liquor, drugs, and valuable metals worth a total of Rs 10.64 crore,” the statement further read.

The Mumbai Municipal Corporation pulled down as much as 7,389 banners, posters, and flags displayed throughout the city in the 48 hours after the model code of conduct for the upcoming state assembly elections came into effect from Wednesday.

By Thursday at 6 pm, the civic team from the license department had taken action, removing 4,115 religious banners, 2,006 boards, 555 posters, along with 356 political banners, 263 boards, 48 posters, and 196 commercial banners, 20 boards, 6 posters, and 679 flags.

Over 25,000 Campaign Materials Removed In Pune

In the first 48 hours after the MCC came in place for the Maharashtra assembly election, a total of 25,860 campaign materials were removed with immediate effect from public properties and their premises, the Pune collector and District election officer informed.

The campaign materials removed across the district included 1,919 graffitis, 7,292 posters, 2,117 billboards, 4,580 banners, 2,854 flags, and 7,098 other materials.

The Election Commission of India has encouraged the voters to report any violations of the code of conduct using the Cvigil App. Complaints submitted through the app are resolved within 100 minutes. Additionally, voters can call the helpline number 1950 for further assistance.

Mumbai: The total ridership on Mumbai’s Aqua Line, also known as Metro 3, has exceeded the 200,000-passenger mark just 10 days after opening to the public, according to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC). The highest number of commuters has been recorded at Marol Naka station, which serves as an interchange with the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) Metro 1 line.

An MMRC official confirmed that the ridership surpassed 2,00,000 a few days ago, though the latest data was still pending, as reported by Hindustan Times. Between October 7 and October 15, over 198,000 passengers travelled between Aarey and Bandra Kurla Complex on the Aqua Line. On the first day of service, October 7, 18,015 commuters used the line, while the average daily ridership during the first nine days was around 22,043 passengers.

MetroConnect3 Mobile App Used By Several Passengers For Ticket Booking

Of the nearly 200,000 commuters, 11,213 purchased their tickets using the MetroConnect3 mobile app, which allows passengers to book tickets from anywhere in the city and requires them to begin their journey within three hours of booking.

Marol Naka station saw the highest footfall among the Aqua Line stations, with 39,887 passengers recorded over nine days, resulting in a daily average of 4,432. Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) station also saw significant traffic, with 31,977 passengers and a daily average of 3,553.

Additionally, Marol Naka station on the blue line (Metro 1) saw a rise in passengers, with a daily average of 45,700 between October 7 and October 11, a 10.12% increase from the daily average of 41,500 recorded between September 30 and October 4.

Arrangements To Manage Increased Footfall

To manage the increased footfall, MMOPL (Mumbai Metro One Private Limited) officials made several adjustments at Marol Naka, including expanding the passage area, adding more security checkpoints, installing additional fare collection gates and setting up directional signage to guide passengers towards the Aqua Line.

Transport experts attribute the increased footfall to Marol Naka’s role as an interchange station. AV Shenoy, a member of the Mumbai Mobility Forum, while speaking to HT, emphasized the importance of connecting multiple modes of public transport, noting that similar integration with suburban railway networks will be crucial as more metro lines are introduced.

During the October 7-11 period, the VAG Metro 1 corridor saw an average of 502,500 passengers daily, compared to 498,500 between September 30 and October 4. MMOPL officials noted that weekend ridership tends to drop by more than 50%.

The first phase of Metro 3, Mumbai’s first underground metro line, opened on October 7 and operates from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm on weekdays and 8:30 am to 10:30 pm on Sundays, with fares ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 50.