Mumbai, July 19, 2025 – Agripada Police have successfully cracked a case involving the theft of a luxury vehicle, arresting two habitual offenders and recovering a stolen high-end Skoda car.

The incident dates back to July 11, 2025, when a luxury Skoda car (MH01DW 4778), owned by Suyash Tours and Travels and parked on Dr. Anandrao Nair Road in Agripada, was stolen. The crime was registered under FIR No. 332/2025 at Agripada Police Station under sections 379 (theft), 317(2), and 3(5) of the Indian Penal Code.

Following technical surveillance and confidential tip-offs, police nabbed two repeat offenders:

1. Mohideen alias Kaka Sheikh Duresh, age 19, resident of Nagpada
2. Wajid Anjum Khan, age 24, resident of Chunabhatti

Both suspects were arrested on July 16 and 17, respectively, and brought to Agripada Police Station for further investigation.

During the inquiry, it was revealed that the accused were planning to sell the stolen car. Police acted swiftly and recovered the stolen vehicle from their possession.

The investigation team also uncovered that the duo is involved in similar vehicle thefts in other areas. A total of six such vehicles have been seized so far in connection with their network. Their arrest is expected to help solve several pending cases of vehicle theft.

The operation was led by Senior Police Inspector and Crime Detection Team of Agripada Police Station.

Mumbai: Mumbaikars have objected to the new proposed regulation in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s iconic buildings policy alleging that it is built on an aesthetic of spectacle, a logic of commercialisation, and a structure of centralised control.

The proposed regulation has been alleged to be exclusionary towards Mumbai’s known heritage buildings and the lack of a mechanism to regulate the policy’s impact of overwhelming the surrounding.

On June 24, BMC invited suggestions and objections from Mumbaikars on a new regulation 33(27) to the iconic building policy that aims to shape the city’s skyline. BMC claimed that once implemented, the policy will regulate and encourage the development of structures with distinctive architectural styles, aimed at reinforcing Mumbai’s global image as a city with unique and diverse architecture.

While Mumbaikars have acknowledged the ambition of the policy, they have claimed that the policy warrants serious reconsideration. In an online petition marked to the chief engineer of the development plan (DP) department, an anonymous citizens’ group with the name ‘Save Mumbai’s Iconic Buildings’ has raised significant concerns relating to equity, heritage, governance, and sustainability claiming that it warrants serious reconsideration.

The petition, launched on Friday, alleged that the proposed policy defines iconic as exclusionary and biased towards commercial spectacle. It highlighted that the requirement of minimum 40% of the building to be open to the public for a fee, disqualifies the city’s vast stock of residential heritage buildings, including the chawls of Girgaon, the bungalows of Gamdevi and the art deco apartments of Marine Drive.

It also raised concerns against the encouragement of commercialised access alleging that it will turn public engagement into a paid experience, deepening social exclusion.

“These are structures that define the everyday life and cultural identity of the city. They are iconic not because they contain cafes or galleries, but because they are repositories of memory, community, and architectural lineage. By privileging fee-based access and high-visibility aesthetics, the policy effectively erases living heritage from our urban imagination,” read the petition.

The letter alleged that the governance framework of the policy is deeply inadequate, elaborating that the scrutiny committee lacks defined membership criteria, transparency mechanisms or a process of public accountability. It suggested the framework like Mumbai’s heritage committee, which includes civil society experts, architects, and historians

It also added that along with reshaping the city’s skyline, the policy also needs a mechanism to regulate its impact. It suggested that Mumbai urgently requires a New York-like skyline review process that evaluates how proposed structures affect sightlines, scale, and heritage precincts. It also raised concerns about applying the same rule to the entire city and bypassing of the wards in the decision-making process.

“It is a critical fact that this policy, like many others before it, continues to treat Mumbai as a monolith, applying the same rules to vastly different neighbourhoods. The new proposed regulation imposes a uniform citywide framework, ignoring the fact that decentralised planning is essential to a city as diverse and layered as ours. Planning must be devolved to the ward or precinct level, allowing for area-specific review and genuine citizen participation. Without decentralisation, heritage will always be at the mercy of distant, disconnected authorities.”

Urging the civic body to withdraw the draft, the petition alleged that the policy is environmentally unsound as it promotes illuminated facades and high-rise construction with no requirement for environmental review or sustainability standards.

It added that these iconic buildings risk generating increased heat, carbon emissions, and pressure on coastal microclimates while there is no mention of tree protection, energy efficiency, or carbon offset.

Mumbai: A heated argument erupted aboard a Mumbai local train over the Marathi language. In a viral video, several women are seen engaged in a verbal clash in the ladies’ compartment, where a disagreement over a seat quickly escalated into a language dispute.

According to a video that has since gone viral, the confrontation started when one woman criticised another passenger for not speaking in Marathi. What began as a simple disagreement escalated into a larger argument, with several women joining in.

In the viral video that surfaced online, it is seen that the woman is forcing the commuters to speak in the Marathi language. One woman in the video is heard saying, “This is our Maharashtra. Speak in Marathi or get out.”

In a separate news story from Mumbai, a shopkeeper in Mumbai’s Vikhroli area was allegedly assaulted and paraded through the market by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers after he posted a controversial WhatsApp status perceived as disrespectful towards the Marathi language and Maharashtra on July 16.

A video of the incident has since gone viral. The shopkeeper, reportedly a native of Rajasthan, has now returned to his village. Vikhroli police have launched an investigation into the matter.

The shopkeeper, identified as Prem Singh Devda, had been running Lucky Medical Shop in Tagore Nagar Market, Vikhroli. On Wednesday, he allegedly posted a WhatsApp status containing derogatory comments against the Marathi language and the state. The post reportedly came to the notice of Santosh Desai, a local MNS leader.

Following this, another MNS leader, Vishwajit Dholam, along with a group of party workers, confronted Devda around 3 PM. They allegedly assaulted him, forced him to apologise publicly outside his shop, and then paraded him around the market area.

Devda was later taken to the Vikhroli Police Station, where he issued a formal apology before being handed over to the authorities. The video of the incident has sparked widespread public reaction on social media platforms.