National News
Fadnavis applied ‘Gujarat snooping model’ in Maharashtra

Maharashtra Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe on Monday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis had introduced a ‘Gujarat brand’ of surveillance tactics in Maharashtra and demanded a through probe into the matter.
His demand came amid the backdrop of the FIR lodged on February 26 by the Pune police against former city Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla in the illegal phone-tapping case.
“IPS officer Rashmi Shukla is merely a pawn. The real culprits are those who guided her. Fadnavis was the state chief minister and he implemented the ‘Gujarat surveillance model’ in Maharashtra,” Londhe said here.
His comments also endorsed state party president Nana Patole’s demand on Sunday that the role of Fadnavis — who was handling the home portfolio during the relevant period — must be investigated in the illegal phone tapping case.
In a significant development on Saturday, the Bundgarden Police booked Shukla, currently Additional Director-General, CRPF, at Hyderabad, in the unauthorised phone-tapping case that rocked the state polity last year, leading to the resignation and subsequent arrest of former Nationalist Congress Party’s home minister Anil Deshmukh.
The FIR against Shukla followed a recommendation by a state government panel headed by ex-DGP Sanjay Pandey, invoking the Indian Telegraph Act, Section 26 and other laws for tapping phones of prominent opposition leaders between March 2016-July 2018.
Speaking to the media here, Londhe charged that the ‘Gujarat surveillance model’ — in which the government of the adjoining state allegedly snooped on people and overheard their private conversations — was introduced in Maharashtra by Fadnavis.
“After 2017, the phone numbers of Patole, Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress leaders, ministers, certain BJP leaders and their ministers, top bureaucrats and others were tapped illegally. The snooping was ostensibly to link them with drug dealers,” said Londhe.
Patole had raised the issue in the Assembly in the past and it finally culminated in the FIR against Shukla, who was the Additional DGP, Maharashtra State Intelligence Department (SID).
Although the case has been lodged against Shukla, what is pertinent is to unravel who ordered the phone-tapping, what was the purpose, whom did she hand over the records of the phone conversations, how did it reach Fadnavis after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government came to power in November 2019.
“There are many such questions, and the government should extend the probe to cover even Fadnavis which will reveal the real masterminds,” Londhe said.
Patole said that “Shukla would not have dared to indulge in illegal phone-tapping without the blessings of a senior government functionary” and it was imperative to investigate Fadnavis’ role and bring it in the public domain.
Referring to how his own phones were tapped and how he was given a fake identity, or having links with the drug mafia, Patole said these were intended to browbeat the opposition leaders and legislators at an opportune time.
“Phone-tapping can be done only with special permission to investigate serious matters like terror or narcotics, but our phone conversations were overheard despite us having not a remote connection to such crime,” Patole pointed out.
Referring to how the BJP at the Centre was allegedly using the Pegasus software for spying on ruling or opposition parties’ leaders, ministers, judiciary and the media, Patole said it is imperative to probe the role of Fadnavis completely in the Maharashtra phone-tapping case.
In March 2021, after Fadnavis raised a hue and cry over the phone-tapping issue, pointing to an alleged racket in the transfers-postings in the police department, the SID lodged a complaint with the Mumbai Police.
Fadnavis’ contentions came after a Top Secret report submitted by Shukla to the then DGP Subodh Jaiswal on August 23, 2020, which he (Fadnavis) later followed up with the Centre demanding a CBI probe into the thriving transfers-promotions racket.
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.
Mumbai Press Exclusive News
Crores of rupees were defrauded in the name of government jobs, the accused was arrested from Delhi… The accused had received money from hundreds of unemployed people

Mumbai: The Mumbai Economic Wing has claimed to have arrested the accused in a case of cheating in the name of getting government jobs in the central and state governments in several districts of Maharashtra. Santosh Ganpat, a businessman from Navi Mumbai, filed a complaint that the accused Nilesh Kanshi Ram Rathore had charged him Rs 5 lakh for a government job and Rs 5 to 15 lakh for medical tests and appointment letters. The EOW has registered a case against him because he has cheated him of Rs 2.88 crore by promising him a job and during the investigation it was revealed that he has cheated him of Rs 10 crore. The Economic Wing has formed a team to arrest the absconding accused and searched him in Akola and other areas. The accused cheated hundreds of youths for recruitment in RCF in 2022. His complaint was filed with the EOW. The EOW received information that the accused was trying to escape from Delhi, on which the police arrested him from Delhi. The accused has been booked in Mumbai EOW and Pune Deccan. A criminal case has been registered and further investigation is underway. This operation has been carried out under the leadership of EOW chief Nisht Mishra.
Mumbai Press Exclusive News
ANC action, drugs worth crores seized, 6 arrested

Mumbai: The Anti-Narcotics Cell has claimed to have arrested six drug smugglers, including a Nigerian, including a Nigerian, including MD and Natropum tablets worth Rs 7.01 crore, during operations at various locations in Mumbai. 523 grams of cocaine, worth Rs 5.23 crore, was seized from a Nigerian in Vakola, Mumbai. Five accused were arrested in raids conducted in Ghatkopar, Kurla CST, Mazgaon, tardeo, Borivali areas, from whose possession Mephedone MD worth Rs 54.65 lakh was seized. These are part of five inter-state drug gangs. Other drugs including Natropum tablets were also seized in this operation. This operation was carried out by DCP Nunath Dhule on the instructions of the Mumbai Police Commissioner.
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