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Maharashtra

‘Hounded’ by ED, Shiv Sena Dy. Leader flees to Eknath Shinde camp

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 Under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Maharashtra ex-minister and Shiv Sena Deputy Leader Arjun Khotkar announced that he is joining the rebel faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, here on Saturday.

Declaring his intentions at a crowded media conference, Khotkar said that he held detailed discussions with Shiv Sena President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut on his decision.

“I have explained to them the compulsions – which all are aware – behind my decision, the harassment to my family… I am forced to make certain decisions… And they (Thackeray-Raut) have understood my predicament,” said an emotional Khotkar, without naming the ED.

To a query, he said that when a person is facing a crisis, he will seek protection from somewhere – an indirect indictment of the central agency which is probing him and his family since the past over two years.

On the central agency probe against him, Khotkar reeled off figures of financial deals pertaining to the alleged illegal auction sale of the Jalna Cooperative Sugar Factory Ltd. by the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) and claimed he was innocent.

A couple of days ago, Raut lauded Khotkar for displaying courage and admitting to the harassment by the ED which had compelled him to take the decision (to switch sides to Shinde camp).

Seven months after he was raided in November 2021, last month (June 2022), the ED attached Khotkar’s properties under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the FIR lodged by the Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai Police.

Among other things, the investigators claimed that the sugar mill was fraudulently sold by the MSCB to the relatives or associates of the bank’s officials and directors flouting norms.

Khotkar’s move came after he called on Shinde, another rebel ex-minister Abdul Sattar and a union minister in the past couple of days.

Maharashtra

Maharashtra: Abu Asim Azmi presents bill in the House against religious hatred and blasphemy, application of MCOCA and UAPA also included in the draft bill

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Mumbai: Nagpur Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi presented a private bill in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly against those who spread blasphemy and religious hatred. The bill demands action against hate elements and calls for action under MCOCA and UAPA against those who spread religious hatred, in addition to ten years of imprisonment and a bail of Rs 2 lakh so that sectarians do not get bail and such cases of spreading religious hatred are banned. He told the House that there has been an increase in cases of blasphemy in the country and in such a situation, tension arises in the country. Action should be taken against such elements to maintain law and order. This will be possible only when action is taken against such sectarians who promote a hate agenda under the guise of freedom of expression. He said that the Supreme Court had also issued an order for strict action against hate elements and miscreants and has banned inflammatory and hate speech. In such a situation, Maharashtra The bill has been formally introduced in the House to take action against those who spread religious hatred and incite hatred against important people. The draft bill proposes to register a case against communalists under the section of the MCOCA UAPA, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years, so that such elements cannot be granted bail.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai fuel theft gang busted, 13 accused arreste, The gang of thieves had attempted to steal fuel in November

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Mumbai: Police claims to have busted a petrol theft gang. The accused were arrested for attempting to steal petrol from BPCL company on November 14 at around 3:30 am under the limits of RCF police station in Mumbai. A complaint was registered for attempting to steal fuel from the underground 18-inch Mumbai Manmade Multi-Product pipeline on Mumbai Gadkari Road. Vinod Devchand Pandit was arrested from Chembur on November 17 on the basis of technical investigation and information from an informant. His investigation revealed that the mastermind of this racket, Riaz Ahmed Ayub (59), Salim Mohammad Ali, Vinod Devchand Pandit had hatched a plan to steal fuel. 13 accused including Gopal Narayan, Mohammad Irfan, Vinay Shashikant, Ahmed Khan Juman Khan, Nishan Jagdish, Mustafa Manzoor, Nasir Shaukat, Imtiaz Asif have been arrested. All these accused have been arrested from various areas. Their arrests were made from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and surrounding areas. This operation was carried out by Additional Commissioner Mahesh Patil and DCP Sameer Sheikh on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti.

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Maharashtra

Vasai-Virar Faces 50,000 Duplicate Entries In Voter Roll; Voters Asked To Choose Single Booth

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Virar: More than 50,000 duplicate voters have been found in the Vasai-Virar city area. The Municipal Corporation has published a list of these voters on its website. The Corporation has appealed to those whose names appear in duplicate to visit and vote at any one polling center of their choice and inform the Corporation of their decision in advance.

More than 50,000 duplicate voters were found in the draft voter lists published by the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation. This large number of duplicate entries has created a major conundrum. To resolve this issue, the Election Commission has allowed voters with duplicate names to cast their vote at any single designated polling center.

Accordingly, the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation has published the list of 50,000 duplicate voters on the municipal website. Municipal Commissioner Manoj Kumar Suryawanshi has appealed to these voters to check their names, select one polling center, and vote there.

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