Hyderabad, Sep 28: A cab driver allegedly attempted to sexually assault a woman near Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad and robbed her of Rs 60,000, officials said on Monday.

The incident occurred near the site of the 2019 Disha case on Friday (September 26) night but came to light on Monday. The 38-year-old woman lodged a complaint with Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) Police Station. Police later registered an FIR.

The complainant, a resident of Devarkonda in Nalgonda district, stated that she boarded a taxi at Jadcherla around 6 p.m. on September 26 to come to Hyderabad. She was carrying Rs 60,000 in cash.

On reaching Shamshabad, the driver asked her to pay an extra Rs 50 to go to Gachibowli, to which she agreed. The FIR states that after crossing the Tondupally toll gate, the driver stopped the car at a medical shop on the ORR service road to buy medicines.

Around 8:30 p.m., he again stopped the vehicle near a deserted place beside the Kothwalguda service road and allegedly tried to molest her. When she raised an alarm and got down from the vehicle, the driver snatched the bag containing the cash and sped away.

Based on the complaint received the same night, police registered a case under Sections 74, 318(4), 303(2) of BNS and took up the investigation. It was near Tondupally toll gate that a 27-year-old woman veterinarian was gang raped and murdered on the night of November 27, 2019.

The charred body of Disha (as the victim is referred to by the investigators) was found at Chatanpally near Shadnagar the next day. The horrific incident had triggered huge public outrage and grabbed the national headlines.

Four accused arrested in the case were gunned down by police in an alleged encounter on December 6, 2019. According to police, the accused tried to snatch weapons from police while they were taken to Chatanpally as part of the investigation. Police personnel escorting them opened fire, killing all the accused.

The Supreme Court later appointed an inquiry commission to probe the alleged encounter.

Mumbai, Sep 28: India is exploring the possibility of strengthening its energy partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by sourcing more liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the Gulf nation, while also working on expanding strategic petroleum reserves to bolster the country’s energy security, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

Addressing the media after the 14th meeting of the India-UAE High-Level Joint Task Force on Investments here, Goyal said that India is engaging with the UAE to enhance cooperation across the energy sector as part of efforts to diversify supply arrangements and safeguard domestic energy availability amid continuing uncertainties in global energy markets.

“India is exploring the possibility of using the United Arab Emirates as a key source of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), while also working with Abu Dhabi to expand petroleum reserves,” the minister stated.

The discussions build on agreements announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UAE in May 2026, when both countries unveiled plans for deeper cooperation in crude oil storage, strategic reserves, LNG and LPG infrastructure, and long-term LPG supply arrangements.

As part of the collaboration, Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) signed a strategic agreement under which the UAE could store up to 30 million barrels of crude oil in India’s strategic petroleum reserve facilities. The proposed arrangement includes potential participation in storage sites located at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Chandikhol in Odisha.

The two sides are also examining the possibility of storing a portion of India’s strategic crude reserves in Fujairah, a key UAE oil hub located outside the Strait of Hormuz. Such an arrangement is expected to improve supply-chain resilience and provide greater flexibility in managing energy inventories during periods of geopolitical uncertainty.

Mumbai, Sep 28: The Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Maharashtra government, alleging a massive Rs 900 crore illegal land scam in the Konkan region.

Addressing a press conference here, Raut claimed that prime agricultural and forest land in the Sindhudurg district has been illegally transferred to wealthy non-agricultural investors from Bengaluru, Delhi, and Hyderabad in violation of land protection laws.

Raut alleged that fertile agricultural land across the Vengurla, Sawantwadi, and Dodamarg talukas of Sindhudurg district has been systematically transferred to non-farmers. Under Maharashtra’s Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act (Tukde Bandi Act), selling fragmented agricultural land to non-agriculturalists without statutory permissions is prohibited.

Raut implicated cabinet ministers and local MLAs representing the Konkan region, accusing them of partnering with “outsiders” and acting as real estate brokers.

“A prominent ‘Hindutva’ cabinet minister from Konkan is acting as an estate agent to hand over local farmers’ land to non-locals,” he charged, demanding to know the exact commission earned from the deals.

He, however, did not mention any names of either the Cabinet Minister or local MLAs.

Beyond the Rs 900 crore recorded on paper, substantial unregistered black money changed hands, he alleged, adding that illegal deforestation is underway across the acquired plots while buyers have already seized physical possession.

Raut highlighted that Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Jayant Patil had previously raised the issue, yet the transactions continued unabated. He accused the state Revenue Department of conducting a sham investigation over the past three years without taking enforcement action.

Issuing a direct challenge to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Raut demanded the immediate publication of all land transfer records in Sindhudurg.

He urged the government to disclose the names of all buyers, the key facilitators behind the deals, and the ministers or MLAs driving the operations.

Raut announced plans to lead a delegation of local Shiv Sena (UBT) workers to inspect the disputed sites in Sindhudurg and expose the extent of the environmental and legal violations on the ground.