Mumbai: In a major development in the ₹122 crore embezzlement case at New India Cooperative Bank, sources have revealed that the bank’s General Manager and Head of Accounts, Hitesh Mehta, has confessed to the fraud before Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials.

According to sources, Mehta admitted to withdrawing money from the bank since the COVID-19 period and distributing it among his close associates and friends.

Following this confession, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) took Mehta into custody for further investigation.

During an audit, the RBI discovered discrepancies in the bank’s cash reserves—₹112 crore missing from the Prabhadevi branch vault and ₹10 crore from the Goregaon branch vault. The investigation is ongoing, and further revelations are expected.

Mumbai, Feb 15: Thousands of residents from Dharavi took to the streets on Saturday, staging demonstrations and protests over the unhygienic and pitiable situation in the city’s densely populated slum.

The protesters voiced their concerns over scarcity of clean water, poor sanitation and the unhygienic conditions in Asia’s largest slum and also engaged in sloganeering against the local public representative Varsha Eknath Gaikwad.

They blamed Congress leader Varsha Eknath Gaikwad, representing Mumbai North-Central constituency, for poor living conditions in the area and demanded that the administration addresses their problems urgently.

The locals protested for hours, expressing anger over ignorance of their region and warned of intensifying the stir if their demand goes unheard. They also raised slogans like “Varsha Gaikwad… Hai Tauba”.

The residents of Dharavi, long plagued by issues such as overflowing toilets, filthy streets, and contaminated water stood united in their demands for change. The demonstration saw more than 5,000 residents hitting the streets.

The protesters made it clear that they are not aligned with any political party and their stir is centred around a single cause — securing basic development and a better quality of life for the people of Dharavi.

One protester said, “We challenge Varsha Gaikwad or any of her family members to spend a month in Dharavi’s slums. If they oppose development after that, we will accept their stance. But if they continue to allow us to live in these horrible conditions while they enjoy luxury, we will take to the streets again.”

Another woman added, “The situation here is so bad that I can’t even let my children out after 8 pm. If development happens, our children will be safer.”

A third protester called for a thorough investigation into the ongoing surveys in the area, saying, “If anyone tries to stop the survey, the police should act immediately and send them to jail.”

Social activist Sujit Gupta, who was also present at the rally, stated, “Today, more than 5,000 voices are united, demanding that the survey be completed quickly and that development work begins without further delay. If there is any opposition, the entire Dharavi will stand against it.”

Nilofer, another resident voiced similar concerns and said, “Only politicians are opposing development. They protest because they stand to benefit from it. If they want to protest, they should come and live with us in these filthy conditions.”

A resident also pointed to Adani and said, “The development can be done in the slums only by Adani, no other entity has the guts to take this task.”

With the Dharavi slum-dwellers coming together to raise their voice unitedly, this is expected to give strength to their demands.

Mumbai: In the case of two people appointed as managers in a very old trust for helping the poor in the city, forging the signature of the NRI trustee and making themselves trustees, the NRI trustee has filed a written complaint against both of them in the Pydhuni Police Station and demanded action against both of them under the forgery charge.

The Yusuf Ibrahim Garde Charity Trust, operating in Mumbai, was formed in 1929 by the grandfather of 78-year-old NRI trustee Yusuf Garde. Yusuf Garde, the only survivor of the trust, said that this trust has 3 properties in Mumbai, which he had waqfed to help the poor and later his father became the trustee of this trust and later Yusuf was made the trustee.

He told that due to his stay abroad, some trustees of the trust took over the property for their own benefit, after receiving the complaint of which he came to Mumbai and lodged a complaint against the trustees and during that time he met Hanif Nakhande and he introduced him to Imtiaz Patni, after which Garde appointed him as the manager in the trust and asked him to prepare the documents for the change report in the State Wakf Board and submit them.

Yusuf Garde alleged that both of them later became trustees instead of managers in the trust by forging my signature, regarding which Garde has contacted the Pydhuni police and demanded action against these two under forgery.