Palghar: The Pelhar police in Palghar district have arrested a 24-year-old man from Vasai, Ismail Abdul Qayum Chaudhary, for allegedly murdering his wife, Khursheeda Khatoon Chaudhary, by strangling her with a dupatta and then attempting to obtain a death certificate declaring her death as natural. According to the police, after committing the crime, Ismail kept his wife’s body in a refrigerator for over 12 hours while he searched for local doctors willing to issue the death certificate.

Details On The Murder

Ismail confessed to the police that he killed his wife after suspecting her of infidelity, Married in June, the couple lived in Vasai’s Kaman locality. Ismail claimed that on the day of the murder, he returned home unannounced during his lunch break to confirm his suspicions. He knocked on the door repeatedly before Khursheeda eventually opened it.

Upon entering, he saw another man in the house, who quickly fled the scene. Ismail confronted Khursheeda about the man, but she allegedly tried to mislead him, which led to a heated argument. In a fit of rage, Ismail strangled her to death using her dupatta.

According to the report, after the murder, Ismail planned to bury Khursheeda, but he needed a death certificate to proceed. He visited several local doctors, but none agreed to issue the certificate. Desperate, he contacted his brother, who lived in the nearby Navjeevan locality, and informed him of the situation. Together, they placed Khursheeda’s body in a refrigerator while they continued searching for a doctor willing to provide the document.

However, local residents became suspicious of Ismail’s actions and alerted the Pelhar police. Officers arrived at Ismail’s residence, where they discovered Khursheeda’s body in the refrigerator. Ismail was immediately arrested and Khursheeda’s body was sent for a post-mortem examination.

Senior police inspector Jitendra Vankoti confirmed that Ismail’s confession had been recorded and that the investigation was ongoing to establish the full sequence of events leading to the murder. The police are now working to gather more evidence and clarify the details surrounding Khursheeda’s death.

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.