Nepal: The case of alleged suicide of Prakriti Lamsal, the 20-year-old Nepali student of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar is increasingly yielding fresh details. An audio clip, purportedly containing abuses hurled by Advik Srivastava (21), a fellow student of Prakriti, is being shared on various social media platforms. The clip records the verbal assault Srivastava subjected Prakriti to. In the clip, Advik can be heard making derogatory comments about Prakriti and her mother. He then even coerced a scared Prakriti to accept his demeaning accusations.

Prakriti Lamsal committed suicide on Sunday (February 16). It has been revealed that she was approaching KIIT officials for months and requesting them to action series of incidents that unfolded after that has raised questions on KIIT’s handling of the situation.

It has been alleged that as Nepali students protested against Lamsal’s death, they were forced by the institute to leave the hostels. KIIT officials reportedly assaulted the Nepali students. They were then put on a bus and taken to Cuttack railway station which is 20 kms away from the institute. Student, without a roof over their heads, had to take shelter on railway platforms.

The sequence of events has found mention even in Nepali media which has strongly demanded justice for Pakriti Lamsal and other Nepali students.

As the issue got raised in Nepali parliament, the Embassy of Nepal in India has also demanded proper investigation into Prakriti’s death. The embassy said on Monday that it had spoken with the institute and requested housing the Nepali students on the campus itself.

“The university authorities informed the embassy that they would operate the classes and house the students in the campus as per the embassy’s request,” the embassy said in a statement.

“The university has expressed its strong commitment to take the issue seriously,” it said further.

In India, Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took to X (formerly Twitter) to demand action against the institute.

Advik Srivastava meanwhile, has been arrested. Media reports say that he was arrested while trying to flee the state.

Mumbai: In a fresh twist to the New India Cooperative Bank ₹122 crore scam, accused Dharmesh Paun has claimed that he received ₹2 crore from main accused Hitesh Mehta, but later returned ₹1.50 crore. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) suspects that Paun misappropriated ₹70 crore for an SRA project in Kandivali’s Charkop area.

Investigators have raised concerns as Paun’s ₹300 crore SRA project is on collector’s land, and he has not secured a bank loan due to land ownership restrictions. Typically, builders take loans for such projects, but EOW has found no loan-related documents in Paun’s possession.

In December 2016, Paun registered his company Dharmesh LLP and began the Charkop SRA project in 2018. In 2016, Paun sold a flat to Mehta, who later resold it to a third party. This marked the beginning of their association. Hitesh Mehta joined New India Cooperative Bank in 1988 as an accountant and has two children, one of whom is preparing for CA exams.

A senior EOW official has revealed that they plan to summon the bank’s internal and concurrent auditors. Eow has seized CCTV footage of last three weeks. The key question: How did Mehta siphon off ₹122 crore in small amounts over five years without auditors noticing?

Further suspicions arose when, on February 12, RBI officials conducted an inspection and discovered that ₹122 crore was missing from the bank’s locker.

However, instead of filing a complaint, the Acting Chief Executive Officer, Devarsi Ghosh, lodged the FIR at Dadar Police Station. If RBI officials found discrepancies in the locker funds, why didn’t they file the complaint themselves? The investigation continues.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police is investigating the scam, which involves siphoning off ₹122 crore from the bank’s funds. Hitesh Mehta, the former General Manager and Head of Accounts, was arrested earlier for his alleged role in diverting the money to multiple beneficiaries.

In the ongoing probe into the ₹122 crore fraud at New India Cooperative Bank, key accused Hitesh Mehta has admitted to diverting ₹70 crore to Dharmesh Paun and ₹40 crore to Arunbhai. During interrogation, Mehta revealed that he had funded Paun’s SRA project in Charkop with ₹70 crore.

However, no official documentation exists to support this transaction. So EOW officer will retrieve the WhatsApp message history of both accused.

Meanwhile, Dharmesh Paun has denied receiving such a large sum and has instead claimed that he only took ₹2 crore from Mehta, out of which he returned ₹1.50 crore. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) is investigating this conflicting narrative and verifying the financial trail.

Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has initiated the process of distributing ₹35 crore worth of seized assets to investors who were defrauded in the Torres brand scam.

The scam involved luring investors with promises of double returns and swindling them out of crores of rupees.

EOW has filed an application with the MPID (Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors) court, seeking permission to auction ₹1.25 crore worth of furniture from a seized showroom in Dadar.

Additionally, a company that supplied stones for the Torres brand is willing to reclaim the seized stock, for which EOW has also sought court approval. If granted, these steps will provide some relief to the defrauded investors.

The fraud was orchestrated through Platinum Hearn Pvt. Ltd., the parent company behind the Torres brand. The scheme promised lucrative returns and misled over 1.25 lakh investors, resulting in a multi-crore scam.

The case is being investigated by the Shivaji Park Police Station and EOW. So far, six accused have been arrested, and authorities have seized assets worth ₹35 crore, including cash, bank accounts, gold, silver jewelry, and precious stones.

The scam has affected thousands of investors, with 12,783 victims officially filing complaints so far, claiming a total fraud of ₹130 crore. Once the seized assets are liquidated and distributed, investors are expected to receive partial relief. The investigation is ongoing, and more victims are expected to come forward.