Pune, Sep 8: Pune Crime Branch has busted an inter-state gang involved in stealing transformers and copper wires from them in and around the city, arresting three accused and recovering stolen property worth Rs 12.73 lakh, officials said on Tuesday.

According to police, the Unit 7 team was conducting patrols when Constable Vinayak Salve received confidential information that some people involved in transformer thefts would arrive in the Wadegaon area of Haveli taluka.

Acting on the information, Police Inspector Wahid Pathan directed PSI Rahul Kolpe to verify the information and initiate legal action. A trap was subsequently laid at Wadegaon, where police intercepted a goods tempo bearing registration number MH-12-GT-6675 on Sunday.

Three men travelling in the vehicle were detained and questioned. They were identified as Mohammed Sahebjaan Mangrekhan, 30, Adarsh Chandraprakash Pandey, 22, and Chandrasen Shivratan Dharia, 28. Police said all three are originally from Uttar Pradesh and were residing in Pune district.

During questioning, the accused confessed to stealing copper wires from eight transformers over the past five to six months. The thefts reportedly took place in Wadegaon, Ashtapur, Sangvi Sandas, Nhavi Sandas, and Hingangaon areas under the jurisdiction of Lonikand Police Station.

Police said the arrests helped solve eight cases registered at Lonikand Police Station under Section 324(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 136 of the Indian Electricity Act.

The three accused were arrested, and further investigation is underway to determine whether other people were involved in the gang and identify where the stolen copper material was being sold.

Earlier, on May 27, Pimpri-Chinchwad Police had arrested three members of a gang involved in 48 cases of electricity transformer theft across Pune district.

Chakan North police had cracked the case while investigating the theft of copper wires from a transformer installed at Nexus Healthcare in Biradwadi village, Khed taluka. The theft reportedly took place between May 15 and 16.

Mumbai, Sep 7: In a major move to boost its long-term development plans, the Maharashtra government on Monday constituted a specialised tendering committee to oversee the creation and operationalisation of a dedicated State financial institution.

Registered as a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), this entity is designed to cater to the state’s massive estimated infrastructure credit requirement of Rs 25–35 lakh crore over the next decade under the ‘Viksit Maharashtra 2047’ blueprint.

According to a Government Resolution (GR) issued by the Finance Department, the newly formed multi-disciplinary committee will drive the selection process for an expert advisory agency.

The procurement will follow a two-stage evaluation process — starting with an Expression of Interest (EoI) for shortlisting followed by a Request for Proposal (RFP) for final selection.

The initiative targets standardising funding channels to support the state’s ambitious Rs 25–35 lakh crore infrastructure push over the coming ten years.

The Maharashtra government hopes the state economy to become $1 trillion by 2029-30 and $5 trillion by 2047.

The state government’s move to raise funds worth Rs 25 to 30 lakh crore needed to achieve ‘Viksit Maharashtra 2047’ vision through NBFC is important due to constraints in raising funds during the volatile market conditions.

“Of the credit need of Rs 25-30 lakh crore, Rs 10-12 lakh crore are proposed for Metro expansion (Mumbai Metropolitan Region at Pune in Nagpur), Coastal Road extensions, Shaktipeeth and Ring Expressways, Vadhavan Port connectivity, Rs 3.5-4.5 lakh crore for Solar/wind generation, pumped storage projects, grid modernisations, and 24×7 rural water supply grids, Rs 3-4 lakh crore for AI Innovation cities, semiconductor clusters, auto/EV manufacturing zones, and logistics parks, Rs 1 lakh crore for island tourism, coastal cruises, fort conservation, and luxury resort hubs and Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the upgradation of smart villages, micro-irrigation networks, and rural cold-chain logistics.”

Stage 1 involves pre-qualification via an EoI response, while Stage 2 will consist of technical presentations and financial bidding under an request for proposal (RFP).

A four-member high level committee has been formed to ensure transparency, neutrality, and statutory compliance under the Companies Act, 2013.

The committee comprises key officials from administrative, legal, and finance sectors to maintain rigorous oversight.

The committee will be chaired by Finance Department Secretary (Financial Reforms) as Chairman/Presiding officer for administrative alignment and financial restructuring approvals, representative of law and judiciary (minimum deputy secretary rank as member (Legal) to provide legal oversight for company incorporation, Memorandum of Association and Article of Association vetting, and Companies Act compliance, expert nominated from RBI Bank or leading public sector bank to bring in specialised domain expertise in banking and NBFC operations and the Finance Department Deputy Secretary as member secretary to manage documentation, official correspondence, and state e-tendering.

The committee has been tasked with clear responsibilities throughout the procurement lifecycle to review and approve pre qualification and eligibility criteria for the expression of interest, open and verify state e-portal EoI submissions, evaluating candidate “Approach Notes”, and conducting technical presentations, finalise a shortlist of advisory firms scoring 70 marks or higher to advance to the RFP phase and oversee RFP technical/financial evaluations, analyse commercial bids, and submit final recommendations to the state government for selecting a single advisory partner agency.

Mumbai: The Marine Drive Police have registered a case against 6 to 7 unidentified car drivers for endangering their own lives and the lives of others by driving at high speeds and in a reckless manner on the southbound stretch of the Coastal Road. A Mumbaikar named Sana Khan recorded a video of the speeding drivers and posted it on social media, prompting the police to take action.

According to the police, the incident occurred around 11:15 PM on the night of September 3, 2026, on the southbound Coastal Road near Marine Drive. The complainant, Satish Nivrutti Sangle (42), is a police constable attached to the Marine Drive Police Station.

It was reported that unidentified drivers of approximately 6 to 7 cars—colored yellow, red, and others—drove at high speeds without adhering to traffic regulations, thereby endangering their own lives and the lives of others.

Based on the complaint, the police have registered a case (Crime Register No. 341/26) under Sections 281 and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act. The case was registered at 10:55 PM on September 4, 2026.

No arrests have been made so far. The police have identified the vehicles involved, and proceedings to seize them are underway. Further legal action against the unidentified drivers is in progress. Sana Khan is a journalist by profession and has previously served as a journalism professor.

Sana Khan recounts that while she was out for a drive with her family, cars suddenly sped past her in a terrifying manner inside the coastal tunnel; while the standard speed limit there is 60 km/h, these vehicles were moving at a dangerously high, potentially lethal speed. She recorded a video of the incident and posted it on social media, prompting the police to take action. She expressed her gratitude to the Mumbai Police for treating the matter seriously, noting that strict action will now be taken against those who disregard the lives of others for the sake of their own amusement.