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Pune Hooch Tragedy: CID Arrests Navi Mumbai Father-Son Duo For Supplying Chemicals; 333 Accused Held So Far

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Navi Mumbai: The Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested two Navi Mumbai-based men for allegedly supplying chemicals used in the manufacture of spurious liquor linked to the Pune hooch tragedy that claimed 22 lives in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

The accused have been identified as Arun Jagdamba Chaube (59) and his son Abhishek Arun Chaube (24), both residents of Vashi in Navi Mumbai. The duo was apprehended by a CID special team following revelations during the ongoing investigation into the deadly liquor racket, as reported by Loksatta.

According to officials, cops found that the father-son duo had allegedly supplied hazardous chemicals used in the preparation of the toxic liquor consumed by the victims. After tracking their role in the supply chain, CID officers arrested them from Navi Mumbai and produced them before a magistrate’s court in Pimpri. The court remanded both accused to four days of police custody to facilitate further investigation into the source and distribution network of the chemicals.

The arrests come days after authorities detained the alleged kingpin of the racket, Yogesh Wankhede, along with several associates. Following the deaths of over 20 people, the Maharashtra government transferred the probe to the CID to uncover the full extent of the illicit liquor network.

Meanwhile, rattled by the scale of the tragedy, the Maharashtra State Excise Department has launched a statewide crackdown on illicit liquor manufacturing and distribution. State Excise Commissioner Rajesh Deshmukh said the department conducted 440 raids across Maharashtra over the past few days, leading to the arrest of 333 persons allegedly involved in the production and sale of illegal liquor.

During the operation, officials seized 1.61 lakh litres of chemicals used in manufacturing illicit liquor, 9,686 litres of spurious liquor and five vehicles. The total value of the seized material has been estimated at Rs 83.24 lakh.

Crime

Fake social media account, Chat GPT used in Ketan Agarwal murder

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Pune, Sep 20: A fake account on social media platform Instagram, along with ChatGPT and murder films, was used by Siya Goyal and her co-accused in the alleged murder of her fiance Ketan Agarwal, reveals the charge sheet filed by the police in the sensational case.

The 5,053-page charge sheet, filed on Saturday, detailed the alleged conspiracy behind the death of the 26-year-old businessman at Lohagad Fort in Pune in June, NDTV reported.

Agarwal was allegedly pushed off the fort on June 18 by his fiancee Siya Goyal, who was assisted by her purported lover Chetan Chaudhary, and another accused, identified as Ritesh Hange. All three have been arrested by the police.

According to the charge sheet, the accused had initially discussed seriously injuring Agarwal and even explored the possibility of hiring someone from outside Maharashtra to carry out the attack.

Police claimed the plan was later dropped because they feared the hired assailant could expose the conspiracy or create problems for them. Investigators have mentioned that a person contacted during this stage has since become a witness, the media report said.

As per the charge sheet, the accused subsequently decided to kill Agarwal themselves and watched murder films and used ChatGPT for the purpose. They also listened to podcasts on how to avoid detection by police as part of their preparations.

Goyal and her co-accused also researched last year’s Meghalaya honeymoon murder case where Indore resident Raja Raghuvanshi was allegedly killed by his wife, Sonam, during the couple’s honeymoon in the state’s East Khasi Hills district.

Moreover, investigators stated that a fake Instagram account named ‘Mahi’ was created using the photograph of a woman known to the accused in order to “lure” Agarwal to the fort.

Subsequently, messages from the account encouraged the victim to visit the spot on June 18 for a surprise birthday plan for Goyal.

According to the chargesheet, the fake account was part of a plan devised by Ritesh Hange to bring Agarwal to the fort. The account was deleted after the incident.

Further, the charge sheet also revealed that the accused conducted a recce of locations around Lonavala before selecting Lohagad Fort.

According to investigators, Goyal and Chaudhary visited Tiger Point and other locations in search of an isolated spot.

Police said that Lohagad was eventually selected because of a death at the fort in March last year. The accused thought they could make Agarwal’s death appear like an accidental fall at the spot.

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Crime

47.3 kg heroin seized in Punjab, four held

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Chandigarh, Sep 20: In a major breakthrough, Punjab Police on Sunday said it had busted a cross-border heroin smuggling network by apprehending four operatives and recovering 47.3 kg of heroin, three pistols, three magazines, 15 cartridges, and two vehicles.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused are linked to a network involved in cross-border smuggling of heroin and illegal arms into Punjab, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav wrote on X.

He said the first investigation report (FIR) was registered in Faridkot.

Further investigation is underway to uncover the wider network and establish its linkages.

A day earlier, Counter Intelligence (CI) Amritsar busted another cross-border narcotics smuggling module with the arrest of three key operatives and recovered 17 kg of heroin from their possession. Police had identified the arrested as Prince, Malkit Singh, and Rajinder Singh, all residents of Kot Mit Singh in Amritsar.

Apart from the heroin, police teams also impounded a car used for transporting the contraband.

With this seizure on Saturday, CI Amritsar has pushed the total recovery of heroin to 54 kg in four days, having previously recovered consignments of 27 kg and 10 kg.

DGP Yadav said CI Amritsar teams had received specific input that three operatives of the smuggling module had received a drone-dropped consignment and were expected to strike a major drug deal beneath the flyover on the Amritsar-Tarn Taran road. Acting promptly, police established a checkpoint and intercepted their car near the park by the flyover. During the search, 17 kg of heroin was recovered.

On September 16, four persons were held with 27 kg of heroin and a foreign-made .30 bore PX5 pistol with three cartridges. On September 18, one person was held with 10 kg of heroin.

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Crime

Delhi Police trace minor girl after 8 years, recover her from Bihar

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New Delhi, Sep 20: The Delhi Police have solved a long-pending missing-person case after the minor was found in Bihar after eight years of sustained efforts, officials said on Sunday.

The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of Delhi Police’s Central District successfully traced and recovered the minor girl from Bihar, bringing an end to a long-pending case registered at Anand Parbat police station.

The case dates back to October 14, 2018, when an FIR was registered at PS Anand Parbat in connection with the alleged missing and kidnapping of a minor girl, who was then 14 years old and a resident of the national capital’s Anand Parbat area.

Following the registration of the case, sustained efforts were made by the police to trace the missing girl and ascertain her whereabouts. During the course of the investigation and search operations, the AHTU team examined footage from multiple CCTV cameras and conducted extensive searches at around 90 shelter homes for girls, 52 orphanages, religious places, and red-light areas across Delhi-NCR.

Despite the extensive searches and multiple efforts undertaken over the years, the whereabouts of the missing girl could not initially be established. The AHTU team, however, continued to pursue available leads and kept working on the long-pending case.

A few months ago, the team received a crucial secret input indicating that the missing girl might be present in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur. Acting promptly on the information, a dedicated team was constituted to trace and recover her.

The team comprised Sub-Inspector Raj Bahadur Singh, Head Constable Surender and Woman Constable Manisha. The team worked under the supervision of Inspector Anil Yadav, In-charge of AHTU, with overall supervision by the ACP, DIU.

Following the development of the lead, the police team immediately travelled to Kanpur and conducted searches at the location indicated by the source. However, upon reaching the spot, the team learnt that the missing girl had been moved from the location shortly before their arrival.

The police team did not abandon the search and continued checking the surrounding areas while developing additional local sources in an effort to trace her whereabouts. Despite these efforts, no immediate clue could be established at that stage.

The team continued to follow the lead and subsequently received information suggesting that the missing girl might be residing in Bihar’s Samastipur district. Acting on the newly developed information, the AHTU team proceeded to Samastipur on September 15.

Through sustained technical surveillance, field verification and persistent ground-level efforts, the team was able to narrow down the location of the missing girl to Shahpur Patori.

The police team subsequently conducted a search operation in the area and successfully located and recovered the missing girl from Patori with the assistance of the local police.

Following her recovery, the girl was brought back to Delhi on September 17 and produced for medical examination. She was subsequently counselled, and her statement was recorded under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

After completion of the requisite legal and procedural formalities, the recovered girl was handed over to her parents, facilitating her reunion with her family after eight years.

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