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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.

Entertainment

Nana Patekar death: Final post-mortem report out, rules out foul play

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Mumbai, Oct 11: The final post-mortem report in the death case of veteran actor Nana Patekar has clarified the cause of death to be natural. A team of doctors at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Bambolim, in its report, has clarified that his death was a natural death, caused by a massive heart attack.

It was confirmed by the Goa Police to media. As per the police, the family has also been informed about the report and the family has also agreed to the medical report and has not raised any objection so far.

As per the final post-mortem report by GMC, the blood supply to the heart was stopped due to a blood clot in the main coronary artery, which led to a cardiac arrest. At around 2:30 am on October 8, the actor informed his family friend about his ill health on WhatsApp, after which he was brought to Manipal Hospital, Dona Paula, where doctors declared him dead even after about 45 minutes of CPR .

For the unversed, the Panaji police had registered a case of unnatural death under section 194 of the BNSS under UD No. 62/2026. Now that the post-mortem has confirmed natural death and ruled out any foul play by son Malhar Patekar and nephew Prasad Patekar, the case will be closed soon.

The late actor Nana Patekar was cremated with full state honours at his farmhouse in Donje in Pune district on Thursday. The actor was given a 3-gun salute.

The late actor’s friends and members of the film fraternity including Jackie Shroff, directors Anil Sharma, Aneez Bazmee, and producer Firoz nadiadwala arrived at Donje village to attend the last rites of Nana Patekar.

A huge crowd also turned up to bid adieu to the departed soul. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also paid his last respects to Nana Patekar at Pune airport before leaving for Mumbai. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde went to the actor’s Pune farmhouse to pay his respects.

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Maharashtra

Show proof for your claims before spreading anarchy: Ram Kadam on ongoing protests in Delhi

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Mumbai, Oct 11: Condemning the ongoing protests that engulf the national capital and other major cities, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ram Kadam said on Sunday that evidence or facts should be presented before spreading anarchy in the state for just the sake of it.

Speaking to media, the BJP leader added, “Congress leaders carry the Constitution in their hands and speak about it, but their actions are aimed at undermining it. Are they above the law and administrative procedures, including the requirement to obtain permission?”

“Ever since he (Rahul Gandhi) returned from the US, it is unclear what has come over him and what is driving his actions. Is foreign funding behind his attempts to create unrest here? The voter list purification process has been carried out during the tenures of several Prime Ministers, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Manmohan Singh,” Kadam said.

“The electoral roll has not been reviewed since 2004 till 2025. That job is being done now. Is a dead person above the 2.8 crore voters. More than one crore voters’ names are repeated in the electoral rolls. Is removing those names a crime?” the BJP leader added.

“More than 6.3 crore voters have left their original homes. It’s a transparent process. If you have concrete proof and evidence, present it, but spreading anarchy in the state in the form of protests owing to foreign funding can’t be supported,” he said.

Reacting to the comments made by NCP-SP MLA Rohit Pawar on former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s death, Kadam said, “Rohit Pawar has engaged in political theatrics by claiming that he would reveal the mystery behind the muffler on October 10. Ajit Dada Pawar has passed away, and 15 days ago, Rohit Pawar said he would reveal the mystery, but October 10 has passed without any revelation. This shows that he is engaging in cheap political stunts.”

Previously, NCP-SP leader Rohit Pawar had expressed his doubts about the plane crash that killed former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and sought intervention of the probe agencies for further investigation.

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Crime

Elderly Pune resident duped of Rs 8 lakh by man posing as ECI official; 2nd such case in city

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Pune, Oct 11: An unknown person posing as an official of the Election Commission of India (ECI) defrauded a 78-year-old Pune resident of Rs 8 lakh, officials said on Sunday.

The victim, Jitendra Kumar Ahuja, is a resident of Pune’s Ghorpadi. He was cheated of Rs 8,00,015.34. A case was registered at the Mundhwa police station on October 10.

According to the police, the accused gained Ahuja’s trust by posing as an ECI official. He told Ahuja that his documents did not match. He then sent Ahuja a link and asked him to fill in his information.

It is alleged that the accused gained access to Ahuja’s mobile phone through the link and defrauded him of over Rs 8 lakh. This incident occurred between October 1 and 3.

The police have registered a case against the unidentified accused under sections 319(2), 318(4), 3(5) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.

This is the second such case that came to light on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the police said that a person posing as an official of the Election Commission of India (ECI) cheated an 80-year-old man of Rs five lakh online under the guise of updating his voter card in Pune.

A case regarding this incident has been registered at the Lakshminagar Police Station in Pune.

According to the police, the complainant, Kanjasheri Vaidyanathan Venkatesan (80), is a retired employee of an automotive manufacturing company, residing in the Yerwada area of ​​Pune. The accused called him, claiming to be from the ECI’s office, and stated that he needed to update his voter card.

Subsequently, the accused instructed him to download an APK file. After the file was downloaded, the accused gained access to the victim’s mobile screen, compromised his banking passwords, and fraudulently siphoned off Rs. 5 lakh.

A case has been registered at the Lakshminagar Police Station under Sections 308, 318(4), and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as Sections 66(D) and 66(C) of the IT Act.

The full name and address of the accused have not yet been ascertained.

Investigations into both cases are currently underway, and further details are awaited, officials said.

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