Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has intensified its crackdown on Hiren Bhanu and his wife Gauri, the absconding couple in the Rs122 crore scam at New India Cooperative Bank.

Blue Corner Notice Issued

The EOW has issued a Blue Corner notice against Hiren, the alleged mastermind and former chairman of the bank, and Gauri, who was the acting vice-chairman. Investigators have traced Hiren to Abu Dhabi and Gauri to Thailand, leading to the issuance of the notice. The EOW had initially issued a lookout circular.

Now, with confirmed foreign locations, the alert has been issued. The Blue Corner notice will help track Bhanus’ locations, monitor their activities, and facilitate their arrest.

According to EOW sources, the duo fled abroad just before the scam was exposed. As per the probe, Hitesh Mehta, the bank’s general manager, executed the fraud under the instructions of the Bhanu couple.

Reports indicate that they received Rs28 crore from the embezzled funds. Hiren fled to Dubai on January 26, while Gauri left for Thailand on February 10 just before the scam was uncovered on February 12.

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar(Maharashtra): A shocking incident took place in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar where a minor girl’s parents were brutally assaulted with wooden sticks, fists and kicks when they confronted a group of men for harassing their daughter. The incident occurred in Waluj’s Jogeshwari area on Wednesday, March 5, at around 5:30 am. The police have registered a case against the three accused.

The victim, a 14-year-old girl, lives in a rented house in Jogeshwari with her parents, brother and sister. Both her parents work in private jobs. On Tuesday, while returning home from school, she was followed and harassed with obscene gestures by three men identified as Nilesh Dubile, Rishikesh Dubile and Pratik Rajput, reported media. She informed her family about the incident upon reaching home. When her mother stepped outside to confront them, the trio fled the scene.

Accused Harassed Minor, Made Lewd Remarks Repeatedly

The next morning, at around 5:30 am, the girl was sweeping outside her house when the same three men saw her and started making lewd remarks. When questioned, they began abusing her and attacking her mother. The assailants used wooden sticks and anything they could find to hit her. The victim’s mother was kicked in the chest and struck on the head with a stone, leaving her injured.

The father also became a target when he intervened. Seeing the violence escalate, locals attempted to stop the assault but were also attacked and abused. It is suspected that more individuals were involved in the attack. The commotion drew a large crowd of onlookers.

Case Filed Against 3 Accused

Following a complaint by the 39-year-old mother, a case has been registered at Waluj MIDC Police Station against Nilesh Dubile, Rishikesh Dubile and Pratik Rajput. The police have since taken the accused into custody.

Following the investigation, the police booked Pratik Satish Rajput, Rishikesh Ramnath Dubile, Rohit Shankarsing Bahure and Nilesh Ramnath Dubile under relevant sections of the law at Waluj MIDC Police Station. The accused have been taken into custody, and further investigation is underway.

Guwahati, March 7: Assam Police are set to send fresh summons to the YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, who had not appeared before the investigation team against the earlier summons.

A senior police official on Friday said, “A team of CID will travel to Mumbai shortly to Allahbadia’s house, and they will hand over a fresh set of summons for appearing before the investigation team on the probe.”

Allahbadia was supposed to appear before the Assam Police the previous week in the case related to his controversial comments on the stage of the ‘India’s Got Latent’ show that has attracted massive backlash for the podcaster.

A case against Allahbadia was registered in Guwahati, and he was served summons to appear before the Assam Police here. The Guwahati Crime Branch, in the previous week, questioned another YouTuber, Ashish Chanchalani, who has also been embroiled in the controversy for his comments made during an episode of the show.

The interrogation lasted for several hours after the YouTuber arrived at the Crime Branch office. He was questioned about a number of accusations before being let go in the evening. “YouTuber Ashish Chanchlani showed up for interrogation at the Crime Branch. He has complied with our inquiry. We will phone him if necessary, but we are not currently calling him again. Police notices have not yet received a response from other people connected to the investigation. They will receive new summonses shortly,” Guwahati’s Joint Police Commissioner Ankur Jain told reporters here.

On February 21, the Supreme Court asked the Governments of Maharashtra and Assam to respond to the YouTuber’s request to have a formal complaint against the show’s alleged pornographic remarks dismissed or transferred to Mumbai.

When Allahbadia made controversial comments on the show hosted by Samay Raina, Chanchlani was listed in the Assam FIR. Due to his remarks regarding parents and sex in an episode of the show, Ranveer Allahbadia, better known by his stage name BeerBiceps, was the target of multiple formal complaints.

Chanchlani has pleaded for the FIR filed at the Guwahati Crime Branch, Guwahati Police Commissionerate’s Cyber Police Station to be quashed because the Maharashtra FIR was filed first. The YouTuber requested that the Guwahati FIR be transferred to Mumbai.

\While considering Chanchlani’s anticipatory bail motion, the Gauhati High Court granted him temporary relief on February 18 and instructed him to appear in person before the investigating officer within ten days.

The lawyer for Chanchlani contended that their client made no statements on the show and that the FIR’s accusations were limited to the co-accused. In accordance with certain provisions of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhtia, Information Technology Act, Cinematograph Act, and Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, the Guwahati Police filed a formal complaint on February 10.