Mumbai: The special court hearing the cases against underworld don Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan has granted him bail to him in connection with the firing at then Shiv Sena leader Ajay Bhosale in 2009.

As per the initial case registered at Bund Garden police station in Pune on October 11, 2009, two men on a motorcycle opened fire at Bhosale’s Scorpio while he was out campaigning. Bhosale escaped unhurt, but a bullet struck his driver, Shakeel Sayyed. As a result, a case of attempted murder was registered. The assailants were later identified and found to be linked to Rajan’s close aide, Farid Tanasha.

The prosecution had claimed that Pune based businessman Surendra Agarwal allegedly had a dispute with his brother RK Agarwal, over a piece of land. To sort out the dispute, he took help of henchman of Chhota Rajan to persuade his brothers to hand over the property.

Surendra also held several meetings with alleged Rajan aide Vijay Tambat. Besides, Bhosle, a close friend of Surendra’s brother, was also involved in mediating. It was alleged that as things were not going his way, the accused allegedly hatched a conspiracy to attack Bhosle.

The court while granting bail to him said, the prosecution has so far examined 23 witnesses in the case so far. However, the main accused Surendra, was on bail since the beginning, the court said while granting bail to Rajan.

Bhopal, May 6: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Nagpur unit, under the Mumbai Zonal jurisdiction, successfully apprehended two individuals engaged in illegal trade and possession of leopard skins.

Following the seizure, the confiscated wildlife articles and the detained individuals were handed over to the District Forest Division of Ujjain for further investigation in accordance with the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

The operation, conducted in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, resulted in the seizure of two leopard skins with heads, along with an ivory (wild boar horn), from the suspects.

Acting on specific Intelligence regarding attempts to sell these prohibited wildlife items, the DRI team intervened at a hotel in Ujjain on the morning of May 4 leading to the suspects’ capture.

The seized leopard skins and ivory were confiscated under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, which strictly prohibits the trade, purchase, or possession of leopard skins or any part of the animal, as leopards are listed under Schedule I of the Act.

The agency is active in various wildlife enforcement actions, including a recent operation in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district, where it seized two leopard hides and 18 leopard nails, leading to the arrest of five individuals.

In March 2024, another mission in Vizag city resulted in the seizure of a leopard skin and the apprehension of four traffickers.

Additionally, DRI’s Pune unit intercepted a leopard skin in Akola, Maharashtra, leading to the arrest of three persons.

This operation is part of DRI’s ongoing efforts to combat wildlife trafficking.

Earlier in January 2025, the Nagpur unit intercepted three individuals in Maharashtra’s Akola district and recovered one leopard skin.

These successful missions reaffirm DRI’s steadfast commitment to curbing illegal wildlife trade and safeguarding India’s biodiversity.

Employing its Intelligence-based approach and enforcement capabilities, the DRI continues to dismantle trafficking networks and enforce wildlife protection laws in collaboration with other agencies.

Imphal, May 6: Security forces have arrested 12 more militants, including a woman cadre, of different outfits and recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition in Manipur during the past 24 hours, officials said on Tuesday.

A police spokesman said that of the 12 militants apprehended, 11 belong to the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) outfit and one to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) group.

The militants, including a woman cadre, were arrested from four districts — eight from Imphal East, one from Imphal West, two from Thoubal, and one from Kakching.

A large cache of arms and ammunition, including AK series/A1/M4/self-loading rifles, .303 rifles, pistols, camouflage uniforms, mobile phones, various electronic devices, incriminating documents and various other materials were recovered from the militants.

These extremists were involved in kidnapping, threatening people, various types of crimes, forcible collection of money from government employees, contractors, traders and common people.

The security forces, comprising Central and state forces, arrest militants of different outfits almost every day.

Meanwhile, police, during the past 24 hours, have recovered six more stolen vehicles in a special drive conducted for the recovery of stolen/snatched vehicles from anti-social elements/ miscreants.

Amid the ethnic violence in Manipur, widespread theft of cars and two-wheelers was reported, and 151 stolen cars and 30 two-wheelers have been recovered since April 16 from different places in the state when a special drive for the recovery of stolen/snatched vehicles was launched.

Combined security forces have continued search operations and area domination in the fringe and vulnerable areas of hill and valley districts. Manipur has two National Highways — the Imphal-Jiribam National Highway (NH-37) and the Imphal-Dimapur National Highway (NH-2), both very crucial to bring in foodgrains, various essentials and useful items, medicines, transport fuels, construction materials, machineries, and numerous other commodities from outside the state. To prevent any attack or any untoward incident, the security forces provide escorts to all kinds of vehicles when they move through the National Highways.