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Maharashtra

Probe NCB’s extortion racket, fake raids, Maha Minister to Supreme Court

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In another dimension to the sensational so-called rave party bust aboard a cruise ship last October, a Maharashtra Minister has appealed to the Supreme Court to take suo moto cognisance and initiate a probe into what he contended as “extortion and fake raids” perpetrated by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the past few years.

Prominent farmers leader and Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavalamban Mission President Kishore Tiwari, who holds minister of state status, has filed a PIL after Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan and others were let off the hook by the NCB in the infamous raid – on board the Cordelia Cruise ship – commanded by the then Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.

“The Hon’ble Supreme Court should institute a high-level judicial enquiry into the malafide style, approach and affairs of the NCB at Mumbai, and its officials targeting film celebrity and few models since last two years, now established upon absolute clean chit given to Aryan Khan by the NCB,” said Tiwari in his plea.

This is the second such appeal by Tiwari to the apex court after the first one on October 18, 2021, seeking to highlight how the fundamental rights of Aryan Khan and other “soft targets” – trapped by the NCB after the raids sparked off an embarrassing controversy – were infringed.

“Now, as the NCB itself has given complete clean chit to the innocent people who were first implicated in a false case by abusing the position… as such unfortunate incidents of abuse of powers and authority by NCB is a matter of grave concern for law-abiding citizens of the country..”, said the PIL

Tiwari further argued that the SC’s intervention was necessary to safeguard “the public faith and confidence” in the law enforcement agencies of India like the NCB.

He claimed that in recent times, the NCB is abusing its position and trying to deprive the basic human rights of persons like Aryan Khan or others, accused under the NDPS Act, put them behind bars illegally, and subjected them to immense public humiliation.

Referring to Wankhede, who was removed from his position – with grave allegations levelled against him on various counts from different quarters including by state Minister Nawab Malik – for selectively and vindictively targeting rich persons or celebrities like Aryan Khan ostensibly to “uproot the citadel of drugs in Bollywood”.

Tiwari added that now with the absolute clean chit given to Aryan Khan and others, “its crystal clear that it was a big game of abuse of power and authority” by Wankhede against whom allegations of “extortion” also came up, and all this needs to be probed independently by the apex court under Article 139/142 of the Constitution.

The NCB had taken note of these and shunted Wankhede to his parent department for allegedly “running an extortion racket with the help of politically influenced people linked to the ruling party” (Bharatiya Janata Party), and reportedly acquiring huge assets or properties disproportionate to his known sources of income, etc.

Tiwari’s PIL comes even as Wankhede was given a fresh transfer to a posting in Chennai, and more revelations of the case details emerged from the NCB’S voluminous charge sheet filed before a special court last week.

Maharashtra

Drain cleaning work continues on a war scale in the western suburbs, Additional Municipal Commissioner Dr. Vipin Sharma visits

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Mumbai: As part of the review of works before the monsoon, the work of desilting major and minor drains has been started in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Additional Municipal Commissioner (Western Suburbs) Dr. Vipin Sharma today (April 15, 2026) inspected the drain cleaning works in H East Division, H West Division, K North and K South Divisions.

Sharma personally visited major drains like Mogra Nallah, Vakola Nallah, Krishna Nagar Nallah, Andheri Bhuvari Marg, SNDT Nallah as well as Bazaar Nallah, Guruare Nallah, Apex Nallah in Bandra and reviewed the work of desilting the drains. He also gave necessary instructions. The floating garbage and waste in the drains should be removed immediately. The drain cleaning work should be ensured to be 100% completed by May 31, 2026 in any case. Sharma directed the municipal corporation officers to coordinate with the local public representatives and inform them about the cleaning of drains from time to time. Local Corporator and Market and Garden Committee Chairperson Hetal Gala, Corporator Chintamani Navati, Corporator Raja Rahbar Khan, Corporator Ritesh Roy, Corporator Rohini Kamble, Corporator Anjali Sawant, Assistant Commissioner Dinesh Pallavad, Assistant Commissioner Mahesh Patil, Assistant Commissioner Nitin Shukla, Assistant Commissioner Mridula Ande along with concerned officers were present.

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Maharashtra

Corporator Lakshmi Bhatia’s wallet was stolen during a meeting of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Standing Committee; ₹20,000 in cash was taken—raising questions about security?

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A theft incident is being claimed in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Standing Committee. It has been alleged that Rs 20,000 in cash was stolen from the purse of Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray’s party corporator Lakshmi Bhatia. There has been a stir after the incident came to light. The Standing Committee meeting was held today. Bhatia also attended it and kept her purse in the Standing Committee hall. She left her purse there and went to have food. But after the pleasure of burning incense, when she looked at the purse, the purse chain was open. When she checked the purse, she found that Rs 20,000 had been stolen from it. She informed her fellow municipal corporators about this. But since there was no CCTV at the place where the incident took place, it is difficult to verify the incident. The police have been informed about the alleged theft. The MS department and the security department have also been informed about the incident. Along with this, the mayor, the opposition party and the members of the standing committee have been informed about the incident. After this incident, Lakshmi Bhatia suspected that the purse had been tampered with, she also brought the matter to the attention of other fellow corporators. At that time, Lakshmi Bhatia saw that the money had been stolen from the purse. This is the first incident of theft in the committee hall. What action will the police take in this matter now? It remains to be seen. Lakshmi Bhatia has given her reaction to this incident.
The standing committee is considered the treasury of the municipal corporation, if this is happening in this place, what can we say about security? Lakshmi Bhatia raised an angry question. Meanwhile, MNS group chief Yashwant Kalidar also criticized the municipality over this incident and said, “If the security situation in the hall itself is like this, what will happen to the security of ordinary Mumbaikars?” he said. Due to this incident, the issue of security arrangements in the municipal building has come to the fore once again and the demand for accountability is gaining momentum.
“Today there was a meeting of our standing committee, after the meeting we all went for lunch, at that time my purse was there, some staff were present inside, someone opened my purse and took out Rs 20,000 from my purse, regarding this we met the women of the MS department, we told them the whole incident, so we told them that there are no CCTV cameras there, but there are no CCTV cameras there. The matter came there, we have lodged a complaint with them,” said Lakshmi Bhatia. I met the mayor and everyone else, I told the mayor and the standing committee chairman about this matter, I do not suspect anyone but if the corporators are not safe in the municipal corporation, then what will happen to the rest? All the corporators always go for lunch in five to ten minutes, how right is it to open the purses of women corporators? “Only the cash was stolen, the rest of the charger and other items were kept outside.” Corporator Lakshmi Bhatia said, “I have a fellow corporator who is with me in the standing committee, he has seen how those things were lying. He has also seen in what condition the wallet was when I left and how it was when I arrived. If the wallets of corporators are not safe in the municipal corporation, then what will happen to the general public?”

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Maharashtra

Goregaon NESCO concert turns into drug party, investigation launched after death of two youths

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Mumbai: The Excise Department had given full permission for the NESCO concert and alcohol was allowed to be served here till 1:30 am, but under the guise of the same, drugs were also used here. This sensational revelation has come after the death of two youths at the NESCO party and concert. The concert held at NESCO in Gurgaon took the form of a drug party. This party has created a stir in the state. This matter came to light after the death of two youths. Now a new summary has been given in this matter. Sensational facts have come to light in this matter. The state Excise Department had given full permission for the event. There was formal permission to drink alcohol at the NESCO concert and the company also had a license to serve alcohol till 1:30 am. However, it has come to light that along with alcohol, drugs were also used in large quantities in this event that continued till late at night. The police are being accused of being a spectator in this matter.

Auri’s party attendance

Another surprising revelation is that the famous influential person Auri attended the party. Auri has been accused of drug use before and has also been questioned by the Mumbai Police in another crime. Now a video has emerged in which Auri has been found involved in the Gurgaon Nesco concert case. In it, he is clearly seen dancing. Two young men and a woman died due to drug overdose. The deceased overdosed after taking more than one (two or more) pills of the drug. However, doctors believe that the surviving girl may have survived because she vomited due to drug overdose. Both had taken one capsule each before going to the party and the second capsule was delivered to Nesco.

Statements of 15 to 20 people recorded
The Vanrai police have so far recorded the statements of 15 to 20 people in this case. The statements of the people involved in the party and the related persons have been recorded. Currently, the police are trying to record the statements of other young men and women who participated.

After the concert ended, drunken youths were seen rioting in the Nesco parking lot at midnight. A video showing drunken youths climbing on cars in the parking lot and rioting has also gone viral. Locals are expressing strong anger at the behavior of these drunken youths. The police are currently focusing on recording the statements of other youths present at the party. Investigations are underway to find out who supplied the drugs, what kind of drugs were used and who is behind it. The presence of the influential Ori has given a new twist to the case. The police have not yet announced any official arrests but the investigation is said to be going on at a fast pace.

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