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Maharashtra: Congress to probe MLC cross-voting, MLAs absence in trust vote

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Taking serious cognisance of the instance of cross-voting in the June MLC biennial elections and absence of 11 legislators during the July 4 vote of confidence by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the Congress ordered a high-level probe, party sources said here on Friday.

The Congress has directed national spokesperson Mohan Prakash to conduct the enquiry into these lapses on an urgent basis.

“The Congress President has deputed Mohan Prakash to Maharashtra to make an enquiry and submit a report in the wake of the recent political developments in the state, with immediate effect,” said an announcement from AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal.

The developments came quick on the heels of meetings between Rahul Gandhi and ex-minister Naseem Khan and Chandrakant Handore — the party’s official nominee who lost the MLC polls on June 20.

Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole had met Sonia Gandhi on Thursday and demanded action while the candidate Chandrakant Handore had met Rahul Gandhi and had complained about the seven MLAs who had cross-voted which was a precursor to the fall of MVA government where Sena rebels also cross voted .

Mumbai Congress president Bhai Jagtap had said: “High Command should take action against the seven MLAS and the party has sent notice to 11 others who were absent during the trust vote.”

Similarly, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has sought disciplinary action against the errant legislators who may have cross-voted in the MLC polls and also 11 others — including ex-Chief Minister Ashok Chavan — for absenteeism during the Shinde government’s vote of confidence on July 4.

Khan has pointed out to the party top brass how Handore — the Congress official candidate was allotted 29 votes against the 26 quota, but managed to bag only 22, indicating a cross-voting by at least seven party MLAs.

Earlier, ex-CM Prithviraj Chavan had also accused 7 Congress MLAs of alleged cross-voting and demanded action against them.

Last month’s fast-paced developments, starting with the Rajya Sabha (June 10) and MLC (June 20) polls saw the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi nominees suffering major reverses with the Bharatiya Janata Party getting advantage on both occasions.

Later, on June 20, the MVA ally Shiv Sena was beset by a sudden revolt that saw the collapse of the 31-month-old government in just 10 days, with the BJP-supported Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis sworn-in on June 30.

Crime

CBI arrests proclaimed offender in Bengal gold trader’s murder in 2007

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New Delhi, July 14: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday arrested proclaimed offender Shibu Kumar Singh, one of the accused in the 2007 Sukanta Ghosh murder case, an official said.

He was arrested from his hideout at Raiganj Road in Gorakhpur’s South Gandhi Ashram, where he was living under the assumed name Akhilesh Kumar Shahi, the CBI official said in a statement.

The case was registered on the order of Calcutta High Court delivered on August 27, 2009.

After investigation, the CBI filed charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet on December 31, 2010, and November 14,2011, respectively, against Shibu Kumar Singh and three others, the statement said.

Absconding for several years, Shibu Kumar Singh was declared a proclaimed offender on September 15, 2016.

The accused was apprehended using human intelligence and technical inputs, the CBI said.

After obtaining a transit warrant, the accused will be taken to Kolkata for production before the competent court on Wednesday, the CBI added.

Barrackpore-based gold merchant Sukanta Ghosh was murdered on July 6, 2007.

The police found his body lying in a pool of blood with 18 stab wounds in Jawahar Kunja of Latbagan.

The police, after initial investigation, found that there was suspicion of the involvement of some goons allegedly working under the patronage of a Left legislator and his brothers.

The investigators found that the victim was murdered for refusing to pay protection or extortion money to the local mafia linked to the MLA.

During the investigation, the High Court had even directed the CBI to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the murder.

Justice Samapti Chatterjee had instructed the CBI to frame the SIT to reinvestigate the case that had initially been probed by the state police.

The High Court had directed that the SIT should be led by a CBI officer of the rank of Joint Director who would be responsible for providing updates to facilitate a court-monitored probe.

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National News

NIA chargesheets 6th accused in CPI-Maoist Magadh zone revival, extortion case

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New Delhi, July 14: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed its third chargesheet in a major conspiracy case, naming Chandan Kumar as the sixth accused in the revival of the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit’s activities in the Magadh zone of Jharkhand and the systematic extortion of funds from contractors to procure arms and ammunition.

The chargesheet was submitted before the NIA Special Court in Ranchi, Jharkhand, in connection with a case, which the anti-terror agency had registered suo motu in December 2021.

Chandan Kumar, arrested by the NIA from Mumbai in January 2026, is described as a key figure in the operation.

According to the NIA’s investigation, Chandan Kumar played an active role in raising funds for the CPI (Maoist) through extortion from contractors working in the region.

The agency’s probe revealed that these illicit funds were channelled through multiple routes to support the terror outfit’s activities, including the purchase of arms and ammunition.

Further investigations established that Chandan Kumar was also involved in efforts to revive the CPI (Maoist)’s Magadh Zone by mobilising and encouraging former cadres to re-join the organisation.

His alleged objective was to strengthen the group’s presence and propagate its ideology through violent means.

The chargesheet highlights that prominent SAC Member of CPI (Maoist), Pradyuman Sharma, along with other accused persons including Abhinav and Chandan Kumar, were part of the larger conspiracy to resurrect the banned organisation’s operational capabilities in the area.

The NIA’s findings point to a well-planned strategy by the Maoist group to regain influence in the Magadh region through financial extortion and cadre mobilisation.

The agency has gathered substantial evidence linking the accused to these terror-related activities.

This is the third charge-sheet filed by the NIA in the case so far, with six accused now formally charge-sheeted.

The central probe agency is continuing its investigation to uncover the full extent of the conspiracy, identify additional operatives, and trace the complete money trail.

The development underscores the NIA’s ongoing commitment to dismantling the financial and operational networks of Left-Wing Extremist organisations operating in the country. Officials indicated that further arrests and chargesheets may follow as the investigation progresses.

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Crime

Delhi Cyber Police bust mule bank account racket, arrest four in courier scam case

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New Delhi, July 14: The Cyber Police Station of North-East District, Delhi, has busted a mule bank account racket and arrested four persons in connection with a fraud case involving cheating of Rs 2.47 lakh on the pretext of a courier delivery company.

The arrested accused have been identified as Md. Arbaz Daniyal alias Labbu (20), Jimmy Bathla (41), Abdul Wadood (27), and Aniket Verma (25). Police said the accused were allegedly involved in operating and supplying mule bank accounts used to receive and transfer money obtained through cyber fraud.

According to the police, a case vide e-FIR No. 00194/2026 dated 16.06.2026 under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered at Cyber Police Station, North-East District, on the complaint of Satender, a resident of Babarpur, North-East Delhi, who works as Deputy General Manager (DGM) at Delhi Transco Limited (DTL).

Police said the complainant received a call from a fraudster impersonating a courier executive regarding the delivery of a parcel. The caller allegedly convinced him to dial a number and activate call and message forwarding on his mobile phone. As a result, incoming calls and SMSs, including banking OTPs, were diverted to numbers controlled by the fraudsters, allowing them to fraudulently withdraw Rs 2.47 lakh from his bank account.

During the investigation, police analysed financial transactions, technical evidence and field intelligence to trace the money trail. Investigators found that Rs 80,000 of the cheated amount had been transferred to a Nainital Bank account belonging to the accused Md. Arbaz Daniyal alias Labbu.

Police said further investigation revealed that the account was allegedly opened and operated as a mule account for receiving proceeds of cyber fraud. A dedicated team conducted raids in Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand and Lucknow, Mirzapur and Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, leading to the arrest of all four accused.

“Investigation has exposed a well-organised network engaged in procuring and supplying mule bank accounts to cyber fraudsters for laundering cheated money,” Delhi Police said.

During interrogation, police said Md. Arbaz disclosed that he had opened the bank account on the instructions of Jimmy Bathla in exchange for Rs 50,000. Jimmy allegedly handed over the account to Abdul Wadood for Rs 1 lakh.

Police further said Abdul Wadood allegedly supplied the Nainital Bank account details to Aniket Verma, who then provided the account information to cyber fraudsters operating through Telegram for use in online financial frauds.

Four mobile phones, one from each accused, have been recovered during the investigation. Police said analysis of the seized devices revealed transaction details linked to the alleged cyber fraud network.

The arrests have provided important leads about the larger interstate cyber fraud syndicate, and efforts are underway to identify other members, trace additional fraudulent transactions and recover the remaining proceeds of crime.

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