Mumbai: Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Wednesday told the assembly that four officials have been suspended and 22 security guards transferred following the incident of assault on a woman at Swargate bus station in Thane.

Sarnaik informed that the incident occurred a few days ago inside a Shivshahi ST bus at Swargate bus station. The victim filed a complaint at the Swargate police station, prompting the government to take serious note of the matter. Orders for an inquiry were issued to the vice chairman and managing director of the state transport corporation.

Based on the inquiry report, senior depot manager Jayesh Patil, junior depot manager Pallavi Patil, assistant traffic inspector Sunil Yele, and assistant traffic superintendent Mohini Dhage have been suspended for negligence in ensuring passenger safety. Additionally, 22 security guards stationed at Swargate have been transferred.

The minister warned that any future lapses in ensuring the safety of female passengers would lead to strict action against the responsible officers and staff.

New Delhi, March 13: The Supreme Court is slated to hear next week the matter where it has taken suo moto cognisance of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

As per the Cause List published on the website of the apex court, a Bench of Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar will resume hearing the suo moto case on March 17.

In the previous hearing, the CJI Khanna-led Bench directed hospitals and medical colleges across the country to not penalise doctors and medical professionals, who participated in protests against the ghastly rape and murder case, but had returned to their duty pursuant to the top court’s appeal.

In August last year, during the hearing on the suo moto case titled ‘Alleged rape and murder incident of a trainee doctor in R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, and related issues’, the apex court had urged the protesting medical fraternity to resume work at the earliest and assured them that no adverse action would be taken against them for participating in protests.

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is expected to file its supplementary charge sheet at a special court in Kolkata this month detailing the different aspects of the evidence tampering angle.

The Central agency officials are trying their best to submit the supplementary charge sheet at the special court in Kolkata before the scheduled hearing at the Supreme Court.

In October, the CBI filed its first charge sheet against Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer with Kolkata Police, in the alleged rape and murder case.

In the charge sheet, the CBI did not rule out the possibilities of a larger conspiracy behind the macabre crime that prompted alleged events of tampering and altering of evidence during the initial phase of the investigation which was carried out by Kolkata Police.

Besides Roy, two others arrested by the CBI officials in the matter are R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital’s former Principal, Sandip Ghosh, and the former SHO of Tala Police Station, Abhijit Mondal.

RG Kar comes under the jurisdiction of Tala Police Station.

The main charges against Ghosh and Mondal are for misleading the investigation when the Kolkata Police were probing the matter before it was handed over to the CBI by the Calcutta High Court.

Both have been accused of tampering with evidence in the case.

While pronouncing the quantum of the sentence, special court judge Anirban Das said that the CBI’s contention that Roy’s offence in the matter was “the rarest and rare crimes” was not tenable.

Hence, the judge observed that instead of the “death penalty”, Roy, an erstwhile civic volunteer attached to Kolkata Police, be sentenced to “life imprisonment”.

Apart from that, a fine of Rs 50,000 was also imposed on Roy.

The special court, at the same time, directed the West Bengal government to pay a compensation of Rs 17 lakh to the family of the deceased victim.

It observed that since the victim was raped and murdered at her workplace, which is a state-government entity, the West Bengal government is legally bound to pay compensation to the victim’s family.

The process of the framing of charges was completed on November 4, 2024, exactly 87 days after the body of the woman junior doctor was discovered at a seminar hall within the hospital premises on the morning of August 9, last year.

Taking suo moto cognisance of the crime, the Supreme Court had termed the incident “horrific,” which raises the “systemic issue of safety of doctors across the country”.

“We are deeply concerned about the fact that there is an absence of safe conditions of work for young doctors across the country, particularly, public hospitals,” it had said.

The apex court had ordered the formation of a National Task Force to suggest measures for the security of medical professionals across the country, observing that the safety of doctors is the “highest national concern”.

New Delhi, March 13: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police is investigating a major financial fraud involving the New India Cooperative Bank, which has reportedly seen a Rs 122 crore embezzlement.

The investigation has revealed that former bank president Hiren Bhanu, who is wanted in the case, along with his wife Gauri Bhanu, the bank’s current acting president, and vice president, have purchased multiple properties between 2019 and 2024.

A police official stated that during this period, Rs 122 crore was embezzled from the bank, raising suspicions that the properties acquired by the Bhanu couple may be proceeds of crime.

The EOW is now focussing on investigating these properties as part of their probe into the financial scam. The police are exploring the use of new provisions under the BNSS (Bureau of Non-Specific Financial Crime) Act to seize the assets of the fugitives, as the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) cannot be applied in this case.

The official further elaborated, “We are examining how these properties can be seized, considering that MCOCA does not apply. We are also exploring if the MCOCA provisions can be added to the FIR.”

According to the investigation, just before the scam came to light, the couple fled the country, and in the period between 2019 and 2024, Hiren Bhanu reportedly acquired assets worth Rs 10-12 crore in Mumbai and its outskirts.

The EOW has been closely monitoring these properties, which are now under scrutiny to assess whether they were purchased with the stolen funds. The police are considering invoking BNSS Section 107 (related to property attachment, confiscation, or restoration) to seize the assets, as this provision gives law enforcement the authority to confiscate properties when specific Acts like MCOCA cannot be applied.

This investigation is ongoing, and the EOW is working to ensure that the proceeds of the crime are properly recovered, while also ensuring accountability for the Bhanu couple’s actions in the ongoing Rs 122 crore bank scam.