Pune, July 12: The death toll in the Moshi garbage dump collapse in Pune’s Pimpri-Chinchwad has increased to eight after rescue teams recovered the bodies of seven more victims from the damaged administrative building of the Waste-to-Energy project on Saturday, officials said on Sunday.

Rescue personnel also confirmed that one person is still unaccounted for, and search operations are continuing to locate the missing individual.

The incident occurred at around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday when a massive mound of garbage gave way and crashed onto the administrative building located inside the Moshi garbage depot operated by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.

At the time of the collapse, a total of 23 people were trapped. Of them, 22 were inside the administrative building, while one person was buried beneath a large heap of garbage adjacent to the structure.

Five individuals managed to escape safely immediately after the incident.

Following the collapse, authorities launched an extensive rescue operation involving personnel from the Indian Army, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) Fire Services and the police.

On the first day of the operation, rescue teams succeeded in pulling nine people out of the damaged building alive. Search efforts then continued to locate those who remained trapped inside the debris.

On Thursday, rescuers recovered Bhavesh Wani from the collapsed structure and immediately shifted him to a hospital. However, doctors declared him dead upon arrival.

The operation to reach the remaining victims continued over the following days, but rescue teams encountered major challenges due to the unstable condition of the damaged building, which posed a significant risk to personnel involved in the mission.

To facilitate the rescue work, heavy machinery, including 12 excavators, dumpers and JCB machines, was deployed to remove debris surrounding the building and create a safer passage for rescue teams.

Despite continuous efforts, the precarious state of the structure made it extremely difficult for rescuers to enter the building.

In a bid to accelerate the operation, two advanced demolition excavators were brought to the site on Friday night.

Working under the technical supervision of the NDRF, rescue personnel carefully dismantled the most hazardous concrete sections of the collapsed building in a controlled manner.

The process enabled teams to gain access to the interior of the structure and resume the search operation.

During the rescue operation on Saturday, teams located seven people trapped inside the building. All seven were immediately shifted to a hospital in Pimpri, where medical officers examined them and declared them dead.

With the recovery of these bodies, the overall death toll in the tragedy has risen to eight.

Meanwhile, one individual, believed to be buried beneath the garbage mound adjacent to the collapsed building, remains missing. Rescue personnel continue to carry out the search operation on a war footing.

Officials said NDRF dog squads, along with specialised search equipment, are being used to locate the missing person.

Mumbai, July 12: A bomb threat targeting the iconic Taj Hotel in Mumbai triggered a security alarm, prompting police and security agencies to conduct a comprehensive search operation at the premises before declaring that the threat was a hoax, said police on Sunday.

According to officials, the Taj Hotel was placed on high alert after, at around 12:13 a.m., a man called the Navi Mumbai Police Control Room and allegedly claimed, “Dawood has planted a bomb at the Taj Hotel”. The information was immediately relayed to the Mumbai Police Main Control Room.

Following the alert, teams from the Colaba Police, the Crime Branch, and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) rushed to the Taj Hotel and launched an extensive security check. The hotel’s main lobby, swimming pool, banquet halls, restaurants, parking area, outer premises, and other sensitive locations were thoroughly searched.

After an exhaustive inspection, police confirmed that no suspicious object or explosive was found on the premises. The bomb threat was found to be a hoax.

Technical investigation revealed that the threatening call originated from the Turbhe area of Navi Mumbai. Police have launched a search to identify and arrest the caller based on the mobile number used. Authorities are working with the Turbhe Police to trace and apprehend the suspect.

The iconic hotel in the city’s Colaba area was one of the primary targets in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, in which 166 people were killed and hundreds injured.

A similar bomb threat was received by the Mumbai Police during which the caller allegedly claimed that Delhi’s historic Red Fort would be blown up, prompting police and security agencies to conduct a comprehensive search of the monument on Saturday. It was later declared to be a hoax.

According to Delhi Police, the threat originated from a phone call to the Mumbai Police Control Room, which immediately relayed the information to their Delhi counterpart, which, in turn, alerted the North District Police to initiate security measures.

Soon after receiving the alert, police personnel, bomb disposal squads, and other security teams rushed to the Red Fort and carried out an extensive sanitisation and inspection of the premises. After thoroughly checking the area, officials found no suspicious object or explosive material and confirmed that the threat was false.

Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch has claimed to have busted a gang of fraudsters posing as police officers who used to intimidate people by giving them police badges and fake identity cards. Earlier, the Crime Branch had claimed to have arrested three fake police officers in this case. The search for their accomplices was also on. These absconding accused were arrested today. The accused had told the complainant that the blood money would be returned with interest. After that, the Crime Branch took action on the complainant’s complaint and arrested Mohammad Ghaus Ibrahim Khatib and Rajesh Bade Singh. The search for the absconding accused in this case was on. In this case, Raj Bade Singh was arrested by the Crime Branch from Jaipur, Rajasthan. The accused had cheated the complainant of about Rs 15 lakh and taken money from his several bank accounts. Not only that, Raj Khatib used to tell the police that he would get the complainant’s money back. So far, the Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested four accused in the fraud case, in which the mastermind is Muhammad Ghaus alias Raj Khatib. In this case, three accused were arrested in the first complaint. At that time, the accused had promised the complainant a loan of Rs 1 crore from the bank and then cheated him. In this, Raj Khatib, his son Musab Khatib were arrested. Raj Khatib used to call himself a DCP and cheated the complainant of Rs 16 lakh on the pretext of getting money from a builder along with interest. This complainant was confronted after the news was broadcast. After that, another complainant came forward who said that he had received Rs 12 lakh from three candidates in the name of police recruitment. After that, four FIRs have been registered against these accused so far, this information was given by the Mumbai DCP. Raj Tilak Roshan has said that the number of his victims is likely to increase, so he appeals to the citizens that if they have been cheated by this gang, they can file a complaint with the Crime Branch.