Bengaluru, Oct 17: The Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, R. Ashoka, has written a letter to the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Friday, citing the rising number of sexual assaults on girls in the state, and demanding urgent intervention.

He also urged the NCW to send a fact-finding committee urgently to the state.

Ashoka stated, “The law and order in Karnataka has collapsed. In just 4 months, 979 incidents of sexual assaults on girls were reported. In Bengaluru alone, more than 114 cases have come to light. Our women and children are living in fear due to the Congress-led government’s criminal inaction.”

“From the brutal rape and murder of a tribal girl in Mysuru to the tragic suicide of a librarian in Kalaburagi due to harassment – this is a moral and administrative failure. I have written an urgent letter to the National Commission for Women, demanding immediate intervention. We need a fact-finding team in Karnataka now,” Ashoka stated.

Ashoka stated, “BJP will not stay silent while our sisters and daughters are unsafe. The government must answer for this breakdown and act swiftly to ensure a guarantee of safety and security to our women and children.”

The letter states, “I write to you in the gravest of terms as the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, deeply anguished and alarmed by the surge in heinous crimes against women and minors across the state. The recent spate of incidents reflects a collapse of law and order and an alarming erosion of the safety of women, children and marginalised communities.”

According to official data and media reports, 979 cases of sexual assaults and atrocities against minors have been reported in just the last four months across Karnataka. Bengaluru alone accounts for over 114 such cases, indicating that the crisis has reached alarming proportions and that deterrence has failed completely, Ashoka underlined.

“Among the many tragic incidents that have shaken public conscience are: the brutal rape and murder of a juvenile girl in Mysuru, belonging to the Hakki Pikki nomadic tribal community, who had migrated from Kalaburagi to sell balloons during the Dusshera festivities. This horrifying act expresses the vulnerability of migrant and tribal families and the complete absence of preventive policing even in high-security areas. The tragic suicide of a woman librarian in Kalaburagi, reportedly, following sustained workplace harassment and humiliation. This heartbreaking episode underlines the growing crisis of women’s safety and dignity even within educational and institutional spaces,” Ashoka noted.

These incidents, combined with the shocking statewide statistics, represent a deep moral and administrative failure. Women in Karnataka today are forced to live in fear – not of the law, but of its absence. The government’s silence and inaction in the face of such atrocities are unacceptable, Ashoka slammed.

“In this context, I urge the NCW to take immediate suo motu cognisance and initiate the action. Constitute a high-level fact-finding delegation to visit Karnataka — particularly Mysuru, Kalaburagi and Bengaluru — to assess the situation on the ground, interact with victims’ families, and evaluate institutional lapses,” he demanded. He has also asked NCW to seek a comprehensive report from the Government of Karnataka.

Mumbai: Following a violent altercation during a scheduled monthly review meeting of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) Co-operative Bank at Mumbai Central, the Nagpada police have officially registered an FIR against several individuals, including directors of the bank.

According to the police, the incident, which occurred on October 15 inside the MSRTC auditorium, saw chaos erupt as a group of non-board members allegedly stormed the meeting room, hurled abuses, and physically assaulted nine serving directors present at the venue. The clash has been described as a result of deepening tensions and ongoing allegations of corruption and mismanagement within the bank’s administration.

As per the FIR, the complaint, lodged by Dhiraj Suresh Tiwari, 40, a bus depot mechanic from the Amravati bus depot and one of the complainant directors, the meeting was scheduled to be held on October 15 at 11:00 AM, following instructions circulated via a WhatsApp group by the bank’s board of directors. However, the complainants allege that no formal agenda or meeting minutes were provided in advance, which is a violation of the bank’s governance norms.

The directors claim that, following protocol, they reached out to the bank’s administrative president and vice-president, who advised them to attend the meeting and either endorse or oppose any decisions officially, recording their presence accordingly.

Accordingly, all nine directors arrived at the bank’s conference hall on time. However, by 11:30 AM, the authorized board members who were supposed to conduct the meeting were still absent. During this time, the complainants observed individuals not affiliated with the board loitering outside the hall, prompting them to alert ST Corporation’s security officials about potential security threats.

The meeting eventually began at 11:45 AM, allegedly under the unauthorized supervision of acting director Anil Bhosale, who announced that the bank’s president and vice-president would not be attending. Sanjay Ghadge was then proposed as the acting chairperson by Manoj Mudliyar and seconded by Surendra Uke.

Suddenly, the meeting descended into chaos. A group of individuals — reportedly four women and five men — forcefully entered the hall shouting slogans like “Mara Mara” (meaning “Hit them!”), and allegedly began assaulting the directors.

According to the complaint, amokng the intruders were Sangita Kalambe, Aba Nalkar, Muir Jagtap, Amol Ladi, and others. The attackers reportedly abused and physically assaulted several directors, including punching and kicking them. One of the accused, Sanjay Ghadge — who was already seated inside as a director — allegedly threw a glass paperweight at Dhiraj Tiwari, causing injuries to his shoulder.

In the midst of the commotion, Sangita Kalambe is accused of snatching and throwing the phone of another director, Manoj Dhakate, who was recording the incident. Tiwari also reported that a gold chain weighing two tolas (approximately 20 grams) that he was wearing went missing during the scuffle.

The violence allegedly continued even after the directors managed to escape the hall. In full view of security personnel, Amol Ladi, reportedly under the influence of alcohol, and Sangita Kalambe allegedly assaulted another director, Anil Bankar.

The complainants have alleged that the assault was premeditated and orchestrated as an act of vengeance by those involved in mismanagement and corruption within the bank, following repeated complaints made by them to higher authorities.

The Nagpada police have registered an FIR against the accused — Sangita Kalambe, Aba Nalkar, Muir Jagtap, Amol Ladi, Manoj Mudliyar, Sanjay Ghadge, Sandhya Dahiphale, Shrihari Kale, Surendra Uke, and Atul Sitaprao — under various sections of the Bharatiy Nyay Sanhita (BNS) Act.

Further investigation is underway.

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) money-laundering investigation into alleged illegal construction and bribery at the Vasai–Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) has unearthed a complex web of corporate fronts, cash dealings, and layered financial trails allegedly linked to former Vasai-Virar Municipal Commissioner Anil Pawar, his family, and long-time associates. According to the ED’s prosecution complaint (PC), the proceeds of crime (POC) generated through alleged systematic bribe collections for municipal approvals were laundered through a dense network of family-owned firms, benami partnerships, and investment vehicles, ultimately transformed into high-value real estate and warehousing assets.

The agency’s PC, backed by statements recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), reveals that Pawar’s immediate family including his wife Bharti Pawar, daughters Shrutika and Revti as well as close associates Janardan Pawar, Amol Patil, and Jayesh Patil functioned as the façade of a three-tier laundering system of placement, layering, and integration. This process allegedly involved the direct conversion of illicit cash into share capital, property investments, and corporate inflows camouflaged as legitimate transactions.

The investigation details a complex financial architecture, wherein illicit cash was converted into share capital, property stakes, and corporate inflows camouflaged as legitimate transactions. The ED’s forensic analysis indicates that at least eight corporate entities are allegedly linked to Bharti Pawar through direct investments or partnership stakes. Her declared investments across these firms range between Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 3 crore, excluding substantial unaccounted cash components. The ED has flagged several high-value transactions, including a Rs 2.81 crore worth of land purchased in Alibaug and nearly Rs 3.9 crore in cash investments for warehousing assets. Her immovable holdings include the Shrutika Heights project in Nashik, which reportedly generated Rs 4–5 crore in revenue, land at Ambivali sold for Rs 70 lakh, two Pune flats, agricultural lands in Deola and Sinnar, and a Rs 3.5 crore flat purchased in her mother’s name.

Taking into account both declared and undisclosed assets, investigators estimate the total value of properties linked directly or indirectly to Bharti Pawar and her family at Rs 40–50 crore. Officials allegedly suspect that this intricate pattern of wealth accumulation is tied to illicit proceeds of municipal bribery and other irregular financial dealings during Pawar’s tenure as commissioner.

At the centre of the network lies BSR Realty Pvt Ltd, the Pawar family’s principal real estate firm, registered in the names of Bharti Pawar and her mother, Kumudini Pagar. The company executed projects such as Saidham Apartments and Shrutika Heights, though operational control reportedly rested with Anil Pawar’s associate Janardan Arun Pawar. In her statement, Bharti admitted to providing signed cheque books and OTP access to Janardan while exercising “nominal oversight,” a pattern the ED describes as “proxy directorship and beneficial concealment.”

The ED’s complaint alleges that the Shrutika Heights project alone generated around Rs 4–5 crore in revenue, a substantial portion of which was absent from BSR Realty’s official books. Investigators believe this unaccounted income stemmed from so-called “municipal facilitation fees,” a euphemism for bribe proceeds collected for building permissions. Contracts for projects in Nashik and Satana were routed through J.A. Pawar Builders & Developers, owned by Janardan Pawar, which maintained parallel cash accounts. A search at Janardan’s residence recovered Rs 1.32 crore in unaccounted cash, allegedly indicating partial cash settlements on Pawar’s behalf.

The ED also identified Shrutika Enterprises, ostensibly a stone-crushing and material supply firm with Bharti pawar holding a 25% stake (Rs 52.50 lakh) as a placement channel for funneling cash receipts from Janardan’s accounts into real estate and other investments.

The agency also identified Triquetra Constrotech LLP as another crucial entity, with shareholding distributed among Bharti (40%), Shrutika (25%), Revti (25%), Janardan (9%), and Milind Pagar (1%). ED investigations revealed that the firm, despite having no actual business operations or project execution, maintained active bank accounts, indicating it allegedly acted as a “pass-through entity” to formalise family wealth.

Similarly, Vithai (Vithal) Weaves Pvt. Ltd., a Jalgaon-based textile firm, also came under scrutiny. Shrutika Pawar, the director, claimed her Rs 55 lakh investment came from grandparents’ gifts and jewellery sales, but the ED found no supporting documentation. Despite limited operational involvement, Shrutika received Rs 33 lakh as remuneration, while the firm reported an inflated annual turnover of Rs 40 crore, a discrepancy investigators flagged as “inconsistent with business fundamentals.”

The ED’s investigation has identified Antonov Warehousing Parks Pvt. Ltd. and Dhwaja Warehouses Pvt. Ltd. as key channels for parking unaccounted capital. Subscription records seized by the agency revealed square-foot allocations and payments made in the names of Bharti, Shrutika, and Revti, reflecting a deliberate layering of family wealth through real estate. Payments connected to the Pawar family, totaling Rs 5.2 crore, were traced to these projects, with nearly 75% reportedly routed in cash. The transactions were allegedly coordinated by Anil Pawar through his associate Amol Patil, a practice the ED termed “a textbook case of placement and layering.”

Further scrutiny of the Pawar family’s network revealed systematic use of multiple corporate fronts. Janardan Agri Services Ltd., where Bharti held 90%, was flagged as a “fictitious trading front,” as her declared annual income of Rs 25–30 lakh bore no correlation with actual business activity, inventory, or turnover. A similar scheme emerged in SAPP Ventures and New Front Realty, where Bharti made an investment of Rs 43.21 lakh via cheque. Both companies displayed negligible commercial activity but maintained active financial transactions, underscoring their use as investment placeholders.

Further scrutiny revealed a network of corporate fronts such as Anmol Buildcon, Aadit Asset Holdings Pvt. Ltd., and Aaria Realty, linked to family associates Amol Patil and Jayesh Patil. These entities maintained minimal business activity but facilitated fund routing for family-controlled projects. Notably, consultancy payments to Aadit Asset Holdings were allegedly diverted into warehousing and land acquisitions benefitting the Pawars.

In a recorded statement, Amol Patil admitted receiving Rs 1.37 crore in cash at his Dadar office via Y.S. Reddy, under Anil Pawar’s instructions, to facilitate the Rs 2.81 crore Alibaug land purchase, a transaction in which a significant portion was routed entirely in cash.

Statements from Tushar Pawar, Niranjan Nikam, and Ravindra Nikam corroborated cash movements within the network. Tushar confirmed that he gifted a flat to Shrutika on Anil Pawar’s instructions in Thane, while Niranjan and Ravindra admitted facilitating RTGS transactions and cash deliveries up to Rs 34 lakh. ED recovered handwritten ledgers, blank signed cheques, and digital OTP records linking Bharti’s credentials to Janardan’s execution of transactions, pointing to clear proxy control.

The ED has provisionally attached assets totaling around Rs 71 crore, with approximately Rs 44 crore directly linked to Anil Pawar. The agency has framed the alleged laundering as consequential to predicate offences of extortion and bribery in the municipal approval process. The investigation continues to trace additional undisclosed assets, bank routing, and cross-jurisdictional payment pathways.