Mumbai: Route marches were conducted in the northern suburbs of Mumbai—including sensitive areas like Chembur—against the backdrop of the Ganesh Utsav and the immersion processions. Additional Mumbai Police forces and other units marched through the streets to reassure the public of their safety. Acting on the instructions of Additional Commissioner (East Region) Dhananjay Kulkarni, these marches were carried out in northern areas to prevent any untoward incidents during the Ganpati festival; the Mumbai Police remains on high alert for the occasion. Patrols have been intensified in northern areas such as Govandi, Kurla, and Chembur, and security has been tightened at ponds and immersion sites.
Police are also on alert in Mumbai’s western suburbs, including Andheri and Saki Naka. DCP Datta Nalawade has ordered senior police station officers to remain vigilant and has directed special monitoring of sensitive areas. Under the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti, route marches and security arrangements are being reviewed across all regions and zones of the city. Senior officers are stationed at beaches, artificial ponds, and immersion sites. With the large-scale Ganpati immersion scheduled for September 25, the police remain vigilant and alert to ensure the maintenance of law and order. Special security arrangements have been deployed at key locations across Mumbai—including Girgaon Chowpatty, Dadar, and various waterfronts and immersion sites—and the BMC has claimed to have made adequate provisions for the convenience of Ganesh devotees. Police security will also be in place at coastal areas such as Bandra Bandstand and Juhu Chowpatty. Today, police conducted route marches across the North Mumbai zone and region to assess the situation in sensitive areas; the objective of these marches is to instill a sense of security among the public while deterring communal and anti-social elements. The situation is being closely monitored under the directives of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti. Meanwhile, the arrival of Manoj Jarange-Patil at Azad Maidan—coinciding with the Ganesh festival—has posed a challenge for the Mumbai Police, as permission for his protest demonstration has not yet been granted.

The Mumbai Police successfully arrested a man from Punjab who had engaged in character assassination and threatened to make a video viral unless the victim paid him extortion money. Posing as a woman on Snapchat and other social media platforms, the accused had contacted the victim—a resident within the jurisdiction of the Mulund Police Station—and extorted money by threatening to circulate her photos and videos. When the victim refused to comply with further demands, the accused sent the video to her relatives and others. Consequently, based on the complaint filed at the Mulund Police Station, a case was registered under Sections 308(2) and 351(2) of the BNS, and Sections 66(E) and 67(A) of the IT Act.
Recognizing the gravity of the case, an investigation team was formed under the guidance of senior officers to probe the matter. Through skilled technical investigation, the police identified the accused and obtained reliable information regarding his whereabouts. The accused, identified as Satnam Maninder Singh (aged 22)—a resident of Aadesh Nagar, Street No. 02, near Peepal Petrol Pump, Kotkapura Road, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Punjab—was subsequently arrested. The operation was successfully executed under the guidance of Deven Bharti (Police Commissioner, Mumbai), Manoj Sharma (Joint Commissioner of Police – Law & Order), Dhananjay Kulkarni (Additional Commissioner of Police – East Region, Chembur, Mumbai), Abhay Singh Deshmukh (Deputy Commissioner of Police – East Zone 03, Mumbai), and Sudarshan Honwadkar (Assistant Commissioner of Police – Mulund Division, Mumbai). The team involved included Senior Police Inspector Santosh Ghatikar (Mulund Police Station, Mumbai), Police Inspector Nitin Khadge, Assistant Police Inspector Abhijit Tekwade, and Police Sub-Inspector Sumit Sonawane.

Appeal to the Public
Citizens are urged to exercise extreme caution when accepting friend requests, messages, or video calls from unknown social media accounts. Furthermore, the Mumbai Police advises that there is no need to panic if someone demands money while threatening to circulate such videos or photos; instead, one should immediately contact the nearest police station.

Rais Shaikh, the Samajwadi Party MLA from Mumbai Bhiwandi East constituency, has demanded the establishment of ‘Minority Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation Centers’ across the state’s six revenue divisions. This initiative aims to assist minority youth in launching their own businesses, taking into account the significant size of the minority population. MLA Shaikh has written a letter regarding this matter to the Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Minority Development, Sunetra Pawar.
Highlighting the issue, MLA Shaikh noted that minorities constitute 20% of the state’s total population, with the Muslim community accounting for 11.54%. Due to poverty, the school dropout rate among Muslim students at the 10th and 12th-grade levels stands at 30%, and barely 10% of Muslim youth reach the stage of higher education. There is an urgent need to provide skill training and entrepreneurial encouragement to these students who have fallen out of the educational mainstream.
While research and training institutes such as ‘BARTI’, ‘Mahajyoti’, and ‘SARTHI’ provide skill and business-related training and opportunities to youth from other communities, ‘MARTI’—the institute dedicated to the minority community—has so far remained inactive regarding student training due to a lack of adequate funds. MLA Shaikh pointed out that the ‘Maulana Azad Minorities Financial Development Corporation’ could play a pivotal role in partnership with these centers. The Corporation could handle tasks such as integrating loan schemes, providing financial assistance, and managing the preparation and scrutiny of project reports. In a letter to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, MLA Rais Shaikh stated that if such centers are established, more than 1,000 young men and women in each revenue division would be able to start their own micro and small businesses annually.