Crime
Pirate attack: Kin of kidnapped Indian sailor in distress, prays for safe return
Family members of the missing Indian sailor Pankaj Kumar believed to be kidnapped by sea pirates from the ship MV Tampen anchored in West African nation Gabon are distressed.
Pankaj Kumar, aged 30, hailing from the Gurdaspur district in Punjab was the Second Engineer of MV Tampen.
“Only last year he got married. We are all distressed a lot. There is no information about his whereabouts in Gabon. The shipping company officials are saying that my brother is missing and beyond that there is no information,” Sandeep Kumar, the younger brother of sailor Pankaj Kumar, told IANS over phone.
According to Sandeep Kumar, the family consists of younger sister, their parents and wife of Pankaj Kumar.
“We have sent an email to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We are yet to hear anything from his office,” Sandeep Kumar added.
He said requests have been made to the shipping company the Mumbai based Proactive Shipping Management to do the needful to trace his elder brother.
According to him, aerial search operations were carried out by Gabon authorities on Monday and after that it was stopped.
The ship, with 17 Indian crew, was sailing from Cameroon to the UAE when it developed some propulsion problems and was anchored just two kilometres away from Gabon’s Owendo anchorage when pirates boarded the ship on Sunday morning.
While the pirates threw Pankaj Kumar overboard, they also shot and injured Cook Sunil Ghosh and Chief Officer Naurial Vikas who were later admitted to a local hospital.
“Ghosh (from West Bengal) is doing fine in the hospital. Family members-wife and others- had spoken to him. There is no information about his discharge from the hospital,” a relative told IANS.
“All the sailors on the ship are distressed and would want to come back home,” Nithin Suresh Kuttipravan, a friend of one of the sailors Deepak Udayaraj told IANS.
Kuttipravan is reaching out to various official agencies so that the Indian sailors are brought back at the earliest.
“An official of the Indian Embassy in Congo is trying to reach out to the sailors. The ship captain is under a lot of stress and is answering the officials from the Gabon government,” Kuttipravan said.
He said as per the information from the sailors on board of MV Tampen, the ship’s satellite phone was not working for the past one month.
“They were communicating using email. Now they are using Whatsapp using their Indian SIM cards. We have requested the Indian Embassy to provide the sailors local SIM cards so that they can stay in touch with their family members,” Kuttipravan added.
The Honorary Consulate of India in Gabon is John Rupchandani.
According to Kuttipravan, all the sailors are ready to sign off and reach India at the earliest.
“It seems the shipping company wants the sailors to sail to Dubai after setting right the ship,” he said.
“As per my information, the pirates wanted to kidnap about three/four sailors. While resisting the kidnap attempt, the pirates had shot two Indian sailors,” Kuttipravan said.
According to him, the ship was sailing at a speed of four knots powered by one propulsion and the ship dropped anchor just two kilometres away from Gabon’s Owendo anchorage.
The ship is owned by Prince Marine Transport Service Pvt Ltd, Mumbai and the sailors were provided by Proactive Ship Management.
The ship sailing from Cameroon to the UAE has been facing technical problems enroute. Both its propulsion systems had stopped several times.
The vessel was diverted to Owendo for repairs as it was the nearest port.
On Sunday, six pirates attacked the ship and kidnapped Pankaj Kumar and shot two sailors.
“The marine and local police in Gabon are questioning three persons who had boarded the ship two days before the attack. We hope to know some information about the attackers and the missing crew today (Wednesday),” Captain Sunil Kumar, Security Officer of Proactive Ship Management, told IANS on Wednesday.
“One garbage cleaner and two technicians had boarded the ship as per the information conveyed to us by our agent there,” he had said.
Officials of Prince Marine Transport and Proactive Ship Management were not available for an update when contacted by Mumbaipress.
Crime
Accused in Rs 2 crore Pune embezzlement case arrested in Nashik

Nashik (Maharashtra), June 16: An absconding accused in a Rs 2 crore embezzlement case registered in Pune was arrested in Maharashtra’s Nashik on Tuesday, police said.
According to a complaint filed by Kiran Dadasaheb Shinde, 38, with Pune police, the responsibility for flat sales and related activities across four buildings (A, B, C, and D) of the ‘Ganga Fernhill’ project had been entrusted to Senior Sales Manager Simon Ronnie Peter, 42, but he allegedly, instead of depositing the proceeds from flat sales into the company’s account, transferred the funds to a fraudulent private bank account belonging to his associate, B. Chandrashekhar, thereby embezzling approximately Rs 2 crore collected from 32 customers.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered at Pune’s Kalepadal Police Station on June 9 (Crime No. 257/2026), under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
However, following the registration of the case, Peter went absconding and even switched off his mobile phone to evade arrest.
During the course of the investigation, Pune police received information that the accused was hiding in Nashik city and officials from Kalepadal Police Station contacted Senior Police Inspector Ashok Sharmale of the Gangapur Police Station and sought assistance in tracing and apprehending Peter.
Acting on credible intelligence, Sharmale learned that the accused Peter had arrived in Nashik in a car and was staying in Room No. 301 of Hotel Treebo Sapphire in Kalenagar on Gangapur Road.
Upon receiving the information, Crime Investigation Team officer Ghanshyam Bhoye and his team were immediately dispatched to the location. Acting swiftly, the police team detained the accused and subsequently handed him over to the Pune police for further legal proceedings.
The operation was successfully carried out under the leadership of Senior Police Inspector Sharmale of the Gangapur Police Station, and his team, including Assistant Sub-Inspector Tushar Deore and Police Head Constables Ravindra Mohite, Girish Mahale, Bhagwat Thavil, Ghanshyam Bhoye, Pravin Kedare, Gorakh Salunke, Sujit Jadhav, and Tulshidas Chaudhary.
Crime
Telangana ACB raids govt official’s premises, seizes Rs one crore in cash

Hyderabad, June 16: Telangana’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday conducted searches at premises linked to an official in the Lands and Surveys Department in an alleged case of disproportionate assets (DA).
ACB officials conducted simultaneous searches at 12 locations in and around Hyderabad against Sunkari Narahari, Deputy Director of Lands and Surveys (Multi Zone-2), over allegations of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Led by ACB DSP Gangasani Sridhar, raids were carried out at Narahari’s residence in Chatrinaka in the old city, his office in Narayanaguda, and properties linked to his relatives and close associates.
Sources say officials seized around Rs one crore in cash, along with documents related to multiple properties and significant bank deposits.
ACB officials were using currency counting machines to count wads of notes and weighing machines for gold jewellery and silver items. The anti-graft agency is continuing investigations into his assets, bank accounts and investments.
The ACB is likely to issue a detailed statement on the searches and its findings in the evening.
The raids were conducted following allegations that the official was involved in corrupt practices.
This comes a week after the ACB arrested Roads and Buildings (R&B) Engineer-in-Chief Mohan Naik in a disproportionate assets case.
The ACB officials on June 9 conducted searches at the residence and other premises linked to Mohan Naik and his relatives.
The officials recovered Rs 60 lakh cash, gold jewellery weighing a kilogram, and 13 gold biscuits. They also found documents of properties in Hyderabad and Nizamabad.
According to the ACB, assets identified during raids have an official value of about Rs 17.95 crore. However, their market value is estimated at nearly Rs 200 crore.
The agency produced Mohan Naik before a court, which sent him to judicial custody for 14 days.
There have been allegations that the Engineer-in-Chief favoured certain companies in awarding contracts and building a large network of influence across Telangana.=
Crime
Delhi: Three arrested in cyber fraud case under ‘Operation Pre CyHawk’

New Delhi, June 16: In a significant breakthrough under ‘Operation Pre CyHawk’, the Delhi Police’s Okhla Industrial Area Police Station successfully solved a cyber fraud case involving the unauthorised transfer of Rs 99,000 and arrested three persons from Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district.
According to Delhi Police, the case surfaced after complainant Anoop Haldhar, a resident of Okhla Phase-I, reported receiving a suspicious link on his mobile phone. After clicking on the link, his device was allegedly compromised, leading to the unauthorised withdrawal of Rs 99,000 from his Kotak Mahindra Bank account through UPI and Google Pay transactions. Acting promptly, the victim reported the incident to the National Cyber Crime Helpline 1930.
During the investigation, police officials traced the digital money trail and identified the beneficiary account located in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. Based on the findings, FIR No. 330/2026 dated June 12, 2026, was registered at the Okhla Industrial Area Police Station under Sections 318(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The investigation was assigned to Sub-Inspector Sanjay Meena.
A police team comprising Sub-Inspector Sanjay Meena, Head Constable (HC) Dharampal, and Constable Jai Ram immediately proceeded to Rajasthan and apprehended the beneficiary account holder, identified as Rajat. During sustained interrogation, Rajat disclosed the involvement of two associates, Mitesh and Manoj Kumar, who allegedly arranged and operated the account as a mule account to route the fraudulently obtained funds.
Police said the accused attempted to evade detection by communicating only through voice and WhatsApp calls and frequently switching off their mobile phones. However, sustained technical surveillance, digital analysis, and cyber investigation, with support from ASI Rakhi and HC Abhay, enabled investigators to track and arrest the remaining two accused from a rented accommodation in Nawalgarh, Rajasthan.
The operation culminated in the arrest of all three accused. Police also recovered Rs 21,000 in cash, WhatsApp chats linking the conspirators, the beneficiary’s bank passbook, and an Aadhaar card, all of which are expected to serve as crucial evidence in the ongoing investigation.
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