Mumbai: The State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare on Monday (December 15) announced the dates for the long-awaited Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections in Mumbai. While addressing the press conference, the SEC said that the BMC polls will be held on January 15, while the counting of votes will be held on January 16. The last polls for the 227 seats were held in February 2017. Apart from Mumbai, SEC also announced the dates for the 28 Municipal Corporations, including Pune, Nagpur, Thane and Nashik.

The Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and the NCP (Ajit Pawar), is set to contest the polls together, while, in contrast, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi is grappling with its stance on the MNS. While the Shiv Sena (UBT) wants to fight jointly with the MNS, the Congress remains apprehensive, fearing a loss of north Indian votes.

Of all the 227 seats, the undivided Shiv Sena won 84 seats while the BJP won 82 seats. Both parties were in alliance during that time. The Congress had won 31 seats while the United NCP secured 13 seats. Raj Thackeray’s MNS had won 7 seats.

Thane: As many as 11,827 pending e-challan cases have been settled by the Lok Adalat in Thane and fines of Rs 1.32 crore deposited in court, officials said on Monday.

Under the Motor Vehicles Act, traffic violators are issued e-challans, which are sent directly to their mobile phones, and cases are filed against those who ignore payments, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Pankaj Shirsat said.

Following an appeal by the Thane city transport department, vehicle owners were offered an opportunity to clear the outstanding fines.

The Lok Adalat was held on Saturday, and 11,827 cases were settled and fines of Rs 1.32 crore were collected, the official said.

The drive aimed at resolving long-pending cases against motorists who had failed to pay fines imposed for traffic rule violations.

“The Lok Adalat is not only a penal measure but also an awareness initiative to encourage citizens to follow traffic rules, reduce accidents and avoid the burden of fines,” Shirsat added.

Mumbai: Police claims to have busted a petrol theft gang. The accused were arrested for attempting to steal petrol from BPCL company on November 14 at around 3:30 am under the limits of RCF police station in Mumbai. A complaint was registered for attempting to steal fuel from the underground 18-inch Mumbai Manmade Multi-Product pipeline on Mumbai Gadkari Road. Vinod Devchand Pandit was arrested from Chembur on November 17 on the basis of technical investigation and information from an informant. His investigation revealed that the mastermind of this racket, Riaz Ahmed Ayub (59), Salim Mohammad Ali, Vinod Devchand Pandit had hatched a plan to steal fuel. 13 accused including Gopal Narayan, Mohammad Irfan, Vinay Shashikant, Ahmed Khan Juman Khan, Nishan Jagdish, Mustafa Manzoor, Nasir Shaukat, Imtiaz Asif have been arrested. All these accused have been arrested from various areas. Their arrests were made from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and surrounding areas. This operation was carried out by Additional Commissioner Mahesh Patil and DCP Sameer Sheikh on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti.