Ahmedabad, May 6: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids at 10 locations in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in connection with a Rs 100 crore fraud involving Salim Jummakhan Pathan, who is accused of illegally posing as a Waqf Board trustee and siphoning off rent from Waqf properties.

The action follows an FIR registered by the Gaekwad Haveli police, where five individuals were earlier arrested for allegedly misrepresenting themselves as trustees of the Waqf Board.

The group is accused of illegally collecting rent from properties associated with the Waqf Board, including the historic Kaanch Ni Masjid (Glass Mosque) and Shah Bada Qasam Trust in the Jamalpur area.

According to police investigations, the accused were never officially appointed as trustees by the Gujarat State Waqf Board.

Despite this, they allegedly posed as authorised representatives to extract rent from tenants occupying Waqf-owned properties and commercial establishments built on land leased to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

A key revelation in the investigation points to a plot originally allotted by the Waqf Board to AMC for constructing a school.

The school building was damaged during the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. In 2009, the accused allegedly demolished the remaining structure and began renting out the land. One of the main accused, Salim Pathan, is said to have set up an office — Sodagar Construction — in one of the shops, while leasing out the rest. Neither the rent collected was deposited in the Waqf trust’s official account nor reported to the municipal body, leading to a misappropriation of public and religious assets.

The ED’s raids are part of a broader probe into the alleged financial misdeeds and money laundering linked to this case.

Further investigations are ongoing, and more details are awaited.

The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, enacted on April 8, introduces significant reforms to the governance of waqf properties in the country, aiming to enhance transparency, inclusivity, and administrative efficiency.

The Act mandates the inclusion of non-Muslim members in the Central Waqf Council and State Waqf Boards, allowing for broader representation. Specifically, it permits up to 12 out of 22 members in the Central Waqf Council and 7 out of 11 members in State Waqf Boards to be non-Muslims. Additionally, it requires at least two Muslim women to be part of these bodies, promoting gender inclusivity.

Jaipur, May 5: Jaipur Police have arrested five members of a gang involved in cheating during the NEET UG 2025 examination by using dummy candidates and unfair means.

The arrests were made following a raid at a flat in ABD Pristine Apartments located in Jagdamba Nagar, Karni Vihar, based on a tip-off, said officials on Monday.

The police recovered fake exam documents, Bluetooth devices, four SIM cards, mobile phones, and Rs 50,000 in cash from the possession of the accused. A Scorpio vehicle was also seized.

Those arrested include Ajit Kumar Barala (26), a resident of Chimanpura, Chomu; Sohan Lal Chaudhary (26), from Kushalpura, Samod; and Jitendra Sharma (24), from Bichpadi, Harmada.

DCP (West) Amit Kumar stated that the NEET UG 2025 exam, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), was held on Sunday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The arrested suspects were allegedly planning to help candidates clear the exam using illegal methods.

During the initial investigation, it was revealed that Sohan and Ajit were charging large sums of money from candidates in exchange for ensuring their success through fraudulent means.

Jitendra Sharma had been prepared as a dummy candidate, and the gang had used artificial intelligence tools on mobile phones to manipulate and merge photographs to create fake admit cards. Sharma was scheduled to appear for the NEET exam on behalf of Rohit Gora and was also preparing to sit for the Paramedical exam on May 27 in place of another candidate, Sanjay Chaudhary.

Based on information provided during interrogation, police also arrested the original candidates — Rohit Gora (20), a resident of Chomu, and Sanjay Chaudhary (19), from Samod.

The investigation revealed that Sohan and Ajit are postgraduate students at the National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA) near Zorawar Singh Gate, and live together in a flat in Jagdamba Nagar. Motivated by the lure of a lavish lifestyle and quick earnings, they allegedly turned to examination fraud.

Jitendra Sharma is a first-year MBBS student at the Copper Institute of Medical Science in Karnataka and had qualified NEET exam in 2024.

Meanwhile, further investigations are underway in the case, said police officials.

Mumbai, April 26: A woman was killed and six people, including a 10-day-old infant, were injured in a fire in an high-rise building in Mumbai’s Lokhandwala in Andheri (West), early on Saturday, said the Mumbai Fire Brigade.

Abhina Kartik Sanjanvalia, 34, died on the way to Cooper Hospital. Her family member Kartik Sanjanvalia, 40, is undergoing treatment for smoke inhalation, said an official.

Five fire tenders fought the blaze, which started at around 2.40 am in Broke Land Building near Ashok Academy Lane, and restricted it to room number 104 on the first floor before extinguishing it at 5.30 a.m, said an official.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Mumbai Fire Brigade suspect that the fire in the eight floor building was sparked by an electric short circuit. However, the exact cause of the blaze is yet to be confirmed.

The blaze burnt down furniture, mattresses, clothes, split and window air-conditioners and electrical installations in the flat on the first floor, said an official.

The other injured residents taken to Kokilaben Hospital were identified as 10-day-old baby boy Pradumna Gupta, Rihan, 3, Daya Gupta, 21, Aparna Gupta, 41 and Polam Gupta, 40.

The incident revived painful memories of another fire incident in a 15-storey building in Lokhandwala last October which claimed the lives of three people, including a visually impaired citizen.

Soon after the fire in Riya Palace building, a 37-year-old building at Cross Road Number 4 of Lokhandwala Complex in Andheri, there were demands for opening a fire station on a plot allotted for the purpose in the area three decades ago.

The October 2024 blaze that broke out on the 10th floor of the building started around 8 am and was doused around 9 p.m. The victims were identified as Kanta Soni, 74, Chandraprakash Soni, 74, and Pelubeta, 42.

In another fire incident on Saturday in Maharashtra, a plywood godown was gutted in Thane district. The fire started around 3.30 a.m, in a three-storey building in Rahnal village in Bhiwandi and four fire tenders continued to battle the flames for hours.

A firefighter of the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation (BNMC) got a fracture in his leg during the operation to douse the blaze.

An official said due to a huge pile of plywood the blaze had posed a challenge to fire-fighters.