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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 News: Central Railway’s Local Train Services Between Ambernath And Badlapur Disrupted Due To Technical Failure

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Mumbai: Local train services between Ambernath and Badlapur were severely disrupted on Friday morning following a technical failure in a goods train engine, causing inconvenience to hundreds of daily commuters on the Central Railway’s main line.

According to Central Railway officials, the incident occurred at around 5:42 am between Ambernath and Badlapur, bringing train movement to a halt in the section. The disruption led to delays and overcrowding on platforms during the crucial morning peak hours.

The Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of the Mumbai division took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) at 7:08 am to confirm the issue and assured that teams were working to resolve the situation.

“Due to a technical issue in a goods train engine between Ambernath and Badlapur, train services are affected between Ambernath and Badlapur. Our team is working to resolve the issue at the earliest. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused,” the post read.

The response from commuters on social media was swift and pointed. A user named Dhiraj Karande replied, “It happens every day. Trains are always late—technical fault, management failure,” highlighting recurring issues on the route.

Another commuter, Nitesh Singh, took a more sarcastic tone, posting, “Your patented comment ‘Kindly look into it’ is missing in this post… please post it…”

Railway officials managed to resolve the problem by 7:34 am, after which the DRM confirmed on X that services between Ambernath and Badlapur had been restored.

Passengers have called for better contingency planning and more transparent communication to avoid such early morning chaos in the future.

“The disruption once again highlighted the infrastructure and maintenance challenges faced by the suburban rail network, often referred to as Mumbai’s lifeline,” said Rajesh Kamble of Badlapur, a daily commuter of CR’s local train services.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: Goregaon Police Arrest 26-Year-Old Within 18 Hours For Threatening Businessman While Posing As Lawrence Bishnoi Gang Member

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Mumbai: The Goregaon police have arrested a 26-year-old for allegedly giving a death threat to a businessman and his family, while claiming to be a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The accused, Tejas Shelar, was nabbed within 18 hours and he confessed that he was addicted to online gaming and had a debt of Rs3 lakh, said the police.

According to the police, Malav Shah, 58, a Juhu resident, has an office in Goregaon West, and a factory in Vasai. On Tuesday, when he was in his office, he received a call from an unknown number. The caller told Shah he has been offered Rs25 lakh and one kg of gold to kill him, said the police. The businessman said that he was further told that shooters were on their way to his office, residence andfactory.

The caller gave an offer to Shah, saying he would spare him if he paid more than the amount he is set to receive, said the police. Under the guidance of senior inspector Suryakant Kharat, the police traced the accused’s SIM location to Ambernath East, leading to Shelar’s arrest on Wednesday. He allegedly admitted that he knew about Shah’s financial status and hence threatened him.

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Crime

Mumbai Police Nab 30-Year-Old With Illegal Firearm In Vikhroli

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Mumbai: The Mumbai Police Crime units 7 has registered a case under the Arms Act after apprehending a 30-year-old man in possession of an illegal firearm near Tagore Nagar, Vikhroli West.

According to officials, on August 28 around 10:30 am, acting on confidential information, a police team intercepted a suspect near the Vikhroli Station bus stop on the highway.

The accused, identified as Irfan Mustafa Ansari (30), a garment trader and resident of Turbhe Naka, Navi Mumbai, was found carrying a country-made iron pistol valued at ₹50,000 along with two live cartridges worth ₹500, without any legal license.

Police said Ansari was in violation of the prohibitory orders issued by the Mumbai Police Commissioner regarding possession of arms. He was immediately taken into custody. A case has been registered at Vikhroli Police Station under Sections 3 and 25 of the Indian Arms Act. The seized property, totaling ₹50,500, has been taken into evidence. The case is currently being investigated further by Crime Branch, Unit-

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