Crime
Antilia case: Pradeep Sharma plotted Mansukh Hiran’s ‘cold-blooded murder’

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has named dismissed police officer Pradeep Sharma as the ‘main conspirator’ in the “cold-blooded murder” of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran, in its affidavit in the case pertaining to planting a SUV with 20 gelatin sticks outside Antilia, the home of industrialist Mukesh Ambani.
Aware of the entire conspiracy, the NIA told the Bombay High Court that Hiran was considered the ‘weak link’ in the larger conspiracy to terrorise the billionaire Ambani family, when the SUV was discovered on February 25, 2021, sending shockwaves across the country.
Opposing the bail plea of Sharma – nabbed on June 17, 2021 and currently in judicial custody – the NIA affidavit said he was not innocent and had committed offences of criminal conspiracy, murder and terror acts.
A division bench comprising Justice A. S. Chandurkar and Justice G. A. Sanap has kept Sharma’s bail plea — challenging the Special NIA Court’s rejection of his bail application in February 2022 — for further hearing on July 17.
“Pradeep Sharma was an active member of a gang that had conspired to terrorise people, including the Ambani family, and murdered Hiran as he was a weak link in the conspiracy,” said the NIA, adding that Sharma and other accused were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for heinous and serious offences.
Hiran was aware of the entire conspiracy of parking the SUV outside Antilia that day and the accused (Sharma and co-conspirator and sacked cop Sachin Vaze) feared that he (Hiran) could spill the beans making it difficult for the duo to gather the fruits of the larger plot.
The NIA said that from the evidence gathered, it was crystal clear that Sharma was directly involved in the crime and committed offences of conspiracy, terrorist act, being member of a terror gang, kidnapping, murder and destruction of evidence.
It said Sharma willingly and intentionally entered into a well-organised criminal conspiracy for the execution of Hiran which was a direct outcome of the terror acts committed by Vaze and the other accused.
The NIA also claimed that Hiran was eliminated after he refused to take the blame for parking the SUV outside Antilia.
“When Hiran refused to take blame for the crime, Vaze hatched a conspiracy with Sharma and other accused to kill Hiran so that he does not divulge that Vaze was the one who parked the vehicle outside Antilia,” the NIA said in its affidavit.
The larger conspiracy in the case involved parking of the SUV, and circulating threat letters in the name of ‘Jaish-ul-Hind’ to terrorise the Ambani family and local people.
The NIA pointed out that after killing Hiran, the accused (Sharma-Vaze) attempted to show it as a suicide. Shockingly, Sharma had attended meetings in the Commissioner of Police premises where the alleged conspiracy was hatched.
As the main conspirator, Sharma hired henchmen to kill Hiran by paying Rs 45 lakhs he had got from Vaze, and after the murder, asked the co-accused to flee from Mumbai to Nepal.
The NIA argued that Sharma was famous as an ‘encounter specialist’, influential and if released on bail, he would tamper with the evidence and influence the witnesses.
Crime
Haryana IPS suicide: Punjab Scheduled Caste panel seeks report from Chandigarh DGP

Chandigarh, Oct 11: The Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission on Saturday took suo moto notice in the suicide case of Haryana’s ADGP Y. Puran Kumar in Chandigarh and sought a report from the Chandigarh Director General of Police.
Commission Chairman Jasvir Singh Garhi said this matter has come to his notice through the media, on which he has taken action and he has instructed the Director General of Police of Chandigarh to submit a report regarding this matter and the action taken so far on the suicide note and the complaint given by his wife Amneet Kaur through an ADGP-level officer to the commission on October 13.
Also, the Scheduled Castes Commission Chairman will visit the victim’s family’s house on October 13.
Meanwhile, Jai Narayan, a spokesperson for the 31-member committee for justice for Puran Kumar, told the media here that they formed this 31-member committee on Friday to sustain the movement across all over Haryana with key members from various regions.
“The government has not conducted any meaningful investigation, and we demand that at the very least, those responsible be terminated; only then will the post-mortem be performed,” he said.
Meanwhile, protests were held in Rohtak, demanding arrest of the accused in the suicide case. Inspector General of Puran Kumar, who allegedly shot himself dead at his Chandigarh residence on October 7 with his service revolver, left behind a “final note”.
The victim’s spouse, Amneet P. Kumar, a Haryana cadre senior bureaucrat, in a letter to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has sought justice for her husband.
The letter, marked urgent and confidential, two days ago expressed anguish over what she described as a “grave injustice” and “complete administrative inaction” even after more than 48 hours of her husband’s death.
In a nine-page “suicide note”, Puran Kumar reportedly accused nine serving IPS officers of the Haryana Police, a retired IPS officer and three retired IAS officers of “caste-based discrimination”.
The serving officers included DGP Shatrujeet Singh Kapur and Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya.
Meanwhile, the government has removed Bijarniya from his post and has been replaced by Surinder Singh Bhoria as the Superintendent of Police of Rohtak.
No posting has been given to Bijarniya as of now. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to the wife of late Haryana IPS officer, saying the incident “reveals that even the highest-level officers can be denied social justice on account of discriminatory attitude”.
“The passing away of Mr Y Puran Kumar reveals that even the highest-level officers can be denied social justice on account of the discriminatory attitude and the preconceived notions of the powers that be. Crores of Indians stand with you in your fight for justice,” she wrote.
Crime
AI Misuse Horror In Pune: Woman’s Fake Nude Images Shared Online After BGMI Chat; Accused Nabbed From Mumbai

Pimpri-Chinchwad: A shocking case has come forward in Pune’s Bavdhan area, as a young woman’s nude and obscene photos created with the help of AI were circulated on social media. Police have arrested a young man from the Mumbai area regarding this. The victim is a Master of Business Administration (MBA) student at a Pune-based college. All of this was done after the man met the woman through the Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) game.
A 21-year-old woman, a resident of Bavdhan, has lodged a complaint at Bavdhan Police Station. Police have arrested Chirag Rajendra Thapa (21), a resident of Virar East, Mumbai. A case has been registered against him under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act, 2000.
According to Bavdhan Police, the accused and the victim became acquainted about a fortnight ago through the BGMI game. Professional gamers say that players can meet random people on BGMI and similar games through matchmaking, team lobbies, or voice chats. These games connect players from different regions for cooperative or competitive gameplay. In a similar way, the accused and the victim got connected.
Police further said that after a BGMI gaming session, the accused “slid into” the victim’s Snapchat and Instagram. They were talking on Instagram. However, around a week ago, the accused asked the victim out on a date and to be his girlfriend. She refused, citing that they had never met and she didn’t want a romantic relationship with the accused.
A police official told media “This angered the accused, and he created over 13 fake profiles in the victim’s name on Instagram. He started sending threats to the victim through them. As the victim didn’t budge, he made obscene and morphed nude photos of her with the help of AI and circulated them. He sent them to the victim’s family and friends. Not stopping there, he also went on to create similar images of her other lady friends, asking them to convince the victim to talk to him and accept his love proposal.”
The victim finally reached out to Bavdhan Police Station on Thursday. A case was registered. Through technical analysis and skilful investigation by the Detection Branch (DB) of Bavdhan Police Station, under the guidance of Senior Police Inspector Anil Vibhute, the accused’s location was identified. API Ambarish Deshmukh, PSI Bandu Marne, and Police Constables Arun Narale and Swapnil Sabale went to Karjat and arrested the accused, Thapa, from there.
Police said that they have secured three days of police custody of the accused. The investigation is ongoing, led by PI (Crime) Bhaskar Kadam.
Crime
Mumbai: Real Estate Contractor Arrested In Alleged Multi-Crore Fraud Case

Mumbai: In an interesting turn to an alleged fraud case, a real estate contractor who approached the Khar police against his partner became an accused himself and was arrested. Notably, the sessions court recently refused to even grant him bail, observing that the investigation has revealed that he, in fact, cheated 35 people with fake documents.
The court said that if the contractor, Syed Abi Ahmed, 53, is released, the “prosecution will suffer a lot”. Ahmed was arrested on August 25 on the direction of the Bombay High Court. As per the prosecution case, he had filed a complaint against Peer Mohammad Shaikh alias Babu and Babu’s sister Karima Mujid Shaikh alias Lady Don. It was claimed that in 2014, Ahmed bought a property spanning 2,860 sq ft in Santacruz from one Vijay Dhule by sale agreement which was notarised.
Claiming financial problems, Ahmed did not develop the property into a residential complex. On April 12, 2024, Babu approached him to develop the plot but by June wanted to break the partnership claiming losses. Ahmed claimed he returned Babu’s share of Rs1.60 crore collected from the 35 persons who had booked houses. In June that year, Babu gave up his rights on the flats in writing, with his role limited to constructing the building and handing it over to Ahmed.
In August 2024, Ahmed claimed Babu demanded more money which led to a dispute and also a scuffle, landing Ahmed in hospital for four months. Ahmed claimed that, in his absence, Babu sold flats on the first floor. The Khar police began investigating and found that the sale agreement of the alleged plot was forged. The probe revealed that the advocate whose name appeared as notary had passed away and his signature was forged. Besides, the investigating officer found that Ahmed had entered into an agreement with 35 persons.
The MoUs were allegedly attested by one Advocate Mustari, who denied signing the documents. Advocate for Babu, Tariq Khan, pointed out these findings while arguing for bail for Babu during the hearing on August 18. The court later ordered to implicate Ahmed, following which he was arrested. Ahmed sought bail, claiming that the documents were genuine. He also raised medical grounds for the bail, which the court refused, noting that “there is prima facie case” against him.
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