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Maharashtra

Kamra row: Criticism, soul of democracy trampled, says Shiv Sena(UBT)

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Mumbai, March 26: Shiv Sena(UBT) has slammed the Mahayuti government, Mumbai Police and the Shiv Sena over the ransacking of the studio over the controversial remarks by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, saying that the criticism, which is the soul of democracy as advocated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trampled.

Shiv Sena(UBT), in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ editorial, questioned what the Maharashtra Home Minister and police were doing while chaos was going on in Mumbai city.

“PM Modi says criticism is the soul of democracy. Here, both democracy and the soul have been trampled underfoot by PM Modi’s supporters and are exposed. Instead of taking action against the goons who attacked the podcast studio, the Home Minister asked Kunal Kamra to apologise to Shinde and settle the matter. There is no such thing as freedom of expression. Fadnavis’ ancestors fought against the strangulation of freedom of expression during the Emergency. It no longer seems true that these people went to jail against the Emergency and fought against Indira Gandhi,” reads the editorial.

“Using the pretext of criticism, the pro-Modi Shinde group attacked a ‘podcast studio’. They destroyed the studio and the platform of freedom of expression. They threatened to kill ‘podcast’ artist Kunal Kamra. What was the Maharashtra Home Minister doing and what were his police doing while this chaos was going on in Mumbai city?” says the editorial.

“Was the police a silent spectator while the vandalism was going on or were they in a role of cooperating with the vandals? As soon as the pro-Modi Shinde group vandalized Kamra’s studio, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation woke up and reached the studio with a dormant bulldozer. The civic body decided that many works in the studio were illegal and demolished it. BMC realised that there was illegal construction done inside the studio only after the stand-up comedian, without taking anyone’s name, read out his poem full of sarcasm. The BMC’s action should also be called a joke,” says the editorial.

The editorial further says, “Apologise and go away seems to be the policy of the current Chief Minister. If the podcaster has made a wrong and defamatory criticism, legal action can be taken against him, but threats, beatings and vandalism before the crime are proven hooliganism. Home Minister Fadnavis is openly supporting this hooliganism.”

Thackeray faction, while stepping up attacks against Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ remarks, asks, “Shinde’s supporters attacked Kunal Kamra, but they are not ready to say a single word against a journalist Prashant Koratkar who insulted Shivaji. So has the Maharashtra government granted Koratkar the freedom of expression to insult Shivaji?”

The Shiv Sena(UBT) asks whether the Shinde faction will march at Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray’s residence and question him over his statement that ”There are many ‘Khokyabhai’ sitting in the Vidhan Sabha.”

“This statement reflects reality. Raj Thackeray called all those who defected with 50 boxes and got elected on the strength of those boxes ‘Khokyabhai’. The government belongs to these ‘Khokyabhai’s’. Are Shinde’s people going to march towards Raj Thackeray’s house today because he gave the analogy of ‘Khokyabhai’?” reads the Saamana.

Maharashtra

Mumbai bus travel becomes more expensive, fares increase

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SOURCE: FREE PRESS JUORNAL

Mumbai : Mumbai citizens have been hit by inflation ahead of the BMC elections. The fare hike for BEST buses has been approved. An additional fare of twice the fare will be implemented from today, which will now mean that BEST passengers will have to pay an additional fare, which will affect the pockets of the passengers. The BEST administration has decided to implement the new fare from May 9. The fare has been increased for distances of 5, 10, and 20 kilometers.

The fare for a distance of 5 kilometers has been doubled. The fare for a distance of 5 kilometers has been increased from Rs 6 to Rs 12. No concession has been given in the fare for a 12-year-old child. The daily pass was previously Rs 60, but now the new fare has been increased to Rs 75. The monthly pass is from Rs 900 to Rs 1,800. The facility of Chalo Bus Pass has been provided for children of the Municipal Corporation. The increase in bus fares and tickets in Mumbai has put a burden on the pockets of the citizens. Shared taxis and auto rickshaws are also operated in Mumbai city and its suburbs, but due to the fare, many passengers are unable to pay for these shared means of transport and travel by buses.

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Maharashtra

The verdict in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case will be announced on July 31

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Mumbai: The verdict in the September 29, 2008 bomb blast in Malegaon will be pronounced on July 31. BJP leader and former MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt. Col. Srikant Prasad Purohit, former Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Swami Dayanand Pandey, Ajay Rahirkar, and Sameer Kulkarni are accused of being involved in illegal activities. A bomb was planted in Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur’s scooter, after which the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested 13 accused in the case and charged 7 accused. The hearing of the Malegaon bomb blast will be completed in April. The verdict was expected to be pronounced today, but the court gave the reason that more than one lakh pages are under study and therefore the matter has been adjourned till July 31.

A bomb blast in a scooter at Bhakko Chowk killed 7 people and injured 100. In this case, ATS Chief Hemant Karkare investigated and MCOCA was also applied to the accused, but this investigation was later handed over to the NIA in 2011. The NIA has sought death penalty for the accused in this case. Statements of 223 witnesses were recorded in this case and 23 witnesses defected in the court, including 8 witnesses from the army and defense department. The court has ordered all the accused to be present on July 31 and if anyone is absent, action will be taken against him. The court will pronounce its verdict in this case only on July 31 because the hearing of the case has been completed and the court has also reserved its verdict.

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Maharashtra

Digital Rakshak secures money of five complainants who were scammed in the name of Digital Arrest

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Mumbai: Five complainants who were scammed on social media in the name of digital arrest through the Mumbai Police’s Digital Rakshak (Digital Protector) have been protected by the Digital Rakshak. In Mumbai, CBI, ED and police officers send notices on social media and WhatsApp in the name of Digital Arrest, demanding huge money for video calling in the name of investigation and saving them from the case in the name of investigation. Accordingly, Mumbai Police has developed the Digital Rakshak app. The complaint of five victim complainants was processed on this helpline. In Mumbai’s Chembur area, a video call was made to an elderly person on social media calling him Digital Arrest and it was said that he had huge money in his bank account and his documents, Aadhaar card and PAN card were used in illegal activities.

The caller on the call told the elderly person that he was a CBI officer and demanded money without disconnecting the video call. During this, the victim When the daughter entered the house, she found her father scared and then she asked her father why he was scared. On this, the father told her that it was a call from a CBI officer and that he had transferred money in this matter. After that, the victim contacted the Mumbai Police’s Digital Rakshak helpline and then informed the police about this notice. After that, it was confirmed that this notice was prepared by the CBI and ED by creating a fake notice and sending it on WhatsApp. The police have resolved five cases of digital arrest and have appealed to the citizens that no security agency does digital arrest and neither is investigation done on WhatsApp, so be careful of such elements.

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