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Mumbai News: EOW Files FIR Against Sanjay Raut’s Close Aide Sujit Patkar, 6 Others In BMC’s Khichdi Scam

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Mumbai: The Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has registered an FIR against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut’s close aide Sujit Patkar and six others in the Rs 6.37 crore ‘Khichdi Scam’.

The EOW found that the BMC committed financial irregularities in awarding the contract for distribution of ‘khichdi’ to migrants during the Covid-19 pandemic, the FIR said.

The EOW found that the contractors who were given the task of making khichdi subcontracted the work to others, according to an official. BMC officials received kickbacks to award contracts to favoured parties, the FIR claimed. Vaishnavi Kitchen / Sahyadri Refreshment and Sunil alias Bala Kadam were given the contract but they did not have a kitchen available to make khichdi for more than 5,000 people, the FIR said.

At a BMC meeting, it was decided that the contract should be given to a charitable organisation or an NGO with a community kitchen that could make more than 5,000 meals and had a certificate from the municipality’s Health Department, the FIR stated.

Details On The Khichdi Contract

According to it, the then assistant commissioner (Planning) gave the contract to Vaishnavi Kitchen / Sahyadri Refreshments on Kadam’s application. According to the contract, each packet should have contained 300 grams of khichdi, but the packets distributed among the migrants contained 100-200 grams.

Kadam also subcontracted the work to another party, the FIR claimed. The civic body paid Rs5.93 crore to Sahyadri Refreshments, which transferred Rs45 lakh to Patkar for providing consultancy services, it said.

While investigating a contract given to Force One Multi Services, the EOW found that it did not have its own kitchen, nor a licence from the Health Department or the Food and Drugs Administration, the FIR claimed.

Force One gave the work of making khichdi to Sneha Caterers, which made only 100 grams per packet, it claimed. The BMC gave Rs8.64 crore to Force One, which transferred Rs2.8 crore to the accounts of BMC officials, the FIR said. In his complaint, EOW Assistant Inspector Gopal Ravan, 36, said that the contract was given in contravention of rules.

FIR Filed At Agripada Police Station

The EOW has named Sujit Patkar, Sunil alias Bala Kadam, Rajeev Salunkhe of Sahyadri Refreshments, partners and employees of Force One Multi Service, partners of Sneha Caterer, then assistant municipal commissioner (Planning) and other unidentified BMC officials in the FIR. It has registered the FIR at Agripada Police Station.

Patkar was arrested by the ED in connection with the Jumbo Covid Centre scam and is in judicial custody. The EOW took custody of him last month.

Crime

Love or a trap? Cyber Police warns against romance scams this Valentine’s Week

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Ranchi, Feb 7: As Valentine’s Week starts with promises of love, roses, and heartfelt commitments, cybercriminals are also gearing up to exploit emotions for financial fraud.

Amidst the celebration of romance, authorities are stepping up efforts to protect people from falling victim to “romance scams.”

To counter these digital deceptions, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Union Home Ministry, has launched a special awareness campaign on social media, running parallel to Valentine’s Week.

Using the hashtag #RomanceScamPreventionWeek, officials are spreading crucial information to help people identify and avoid online scams disguised as love.

The Jharkhand Police has also joined the initiative, posting alerts on its official social media handles. One of the campaign’s eye-catching posters, shared on the I4C X handle, poses a thought-provoking question: “What will you do if your online sweetheart asks you for money?”

The post further warns: “This romance season, don’t get duped in the name of love! Join Cyber Dost in Romance Scam Prevention Week and learn how to outsmart scammers.”

Authorities are urging people to stay vigilant and report fraud immediately by calling 1930 or lodging a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in.

A cyber police officer in Ranchi highlighted a recent case where a woman fell prey to a romance scam. She met a man through a matrimonial site, exchanged numbers, and began building a connection. The man planned a visit to Ranchi, but just before their meeting, he claimed he was detained at Delhi airport and needed urgent financial help. Believing his story, she transferred Rs 7 lakh — only to realise later that his profile had vanished without a trace.

With online romance on the rise, the cyber police’s message is clear — Trust your heart, but verify with your mind. Don’t let emotions cloud your judgment — because in the digital world, not every love story is real.

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Crime

5 Pakistani terrorists killed in landmine blast during infiltration bid at LoC in Poonch

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Jammu, Feb 7: Five Pakistani terrorists were killed on Friday in a landmine blast near the Line of Control (LoC) while trying to infiltrate into Indian territory in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Poonch district.

Official sources said that the five Pakistani militants were killed in the landmine explosion while attempting to infiltrate across the LoC in Battal sector of Poonch.

They said that the Pakistani terrorists were attempting to infiltrate into Indian territory when one of them stepped onto a landmine.

“One of them stepped on a landmine, triggering a huge explosion that killed all five terrorists. They were also carrying an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) with them, which also exploded, adding to the damage,” sources said.

The LoC area has been fitted with landmines by the Indian Army to prevent infiltration by the terrorists.

In addition to night vision devices, electronic surveillance and human preparedness, the landmines are an important part of the anti-infiltration mechanism in J&K.

Usually the area close to the LoC is called ‘no man’s land’ thereby signalling that nobody should tread on this land.

Security forces and the Indian Army have heightened vigil along the LoC and the hinterland in J&K as very less snowfall this season so far has left all mountain routes used by the terrorists open in the UT.

Union Home Minister, Amit Shah chaired a high level security meeting on J&K recently.

The Home Minister advised security forces to ensure ‘zero infiltration’ and ‘zero tolerance’ to terrorists.

The meeting was held in the backdrop of the recent murder of an ex-serviceman, Manzoor Ahmad Wagay by terrorists in Kulgam district of the Valley.

The retired soldier’s wife and daughter were injured in the terrorist attack.

There was a political uproar in J&K after the ex-serviceman’s killing as local politicians of the ruling National Conference, Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party criticised the Centre for claiming normalcy in the UT.

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Crime

NCB’s Massive Drug Bust In Mumbai: Cocaine, Ganja & Cannabis Gummies Worth ₹200 Crore Seized; 4 Arrested

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Mumbai: In a major breakthrough, against the drug trafficking syndicates operating in India and especially in Mumbai, the Narcotics Control Bureau Mumbai Zonal Unit busted a major drug syndicate in Mumbai.

This seizure was a result of concerted effort made by the team NCB Mumbai on the leads developed during a recent previous seizure of 200 gms Cocaine in the month of January, 2025. After working on the leads generated in this case and through technical and human intelligence, the NCB MZU was finally able to reach at the source of the contraband and 11.540 kgs very high-grade Cocaine, 4.9 kgs hybrid strain Hydroponic Weed/Ganja and 200 packets (5.5 kgs) of Cannabis gummies & Rs.1,60,000/- were recovered from Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra on 31.01.2025.

In this case, the initial recovery, from an international courier agency in Mumbai, was from a parcel which was destined to Australia. NCB MZU was able to backtrack the supply to the bulk quantity, which was concealed at Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. Investigation conducted so far revealed that this syndicate is being operated by a group of people based abroad and some quantities of the seized contraband were sourced from USA to Mumbai and being sent to multiple receivers in India and abroad through courier/small cargo services and human carriers. The persons involved in this case are anonymous to each other, using pseudo-names for day-to-day conversations on drug dealing.

In this case, four persons have been arrested so far. Further, the investigations to identify the backward and forward linkages of the drug syndicate are underway.

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