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Maharashtra

Rave party: NCP claims non-NCB personnel involved in ship raid

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In a series of shocking revelations, a senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader on Wednesday alleged that two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists, including a ‘vice-president’, were involved in the raid conducted by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on the luxury ship Cordelia Cruise on October 2.

NCP national spokesperson and state Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik slammed the NCB operations, terming it as a ‘fraud’ in which BJP leader Manish Bhanushali and a so-called ‘private detective’ Kiran P. Gosavi were seen hauling out some of the accused, including Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant.

Simultaneously, Shiv Sena leader Kishore Tiwari, who has been accorded MoS rank, demanded the arrest of NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, while Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant urged the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to order a high-level independent probe into Malik’s allegations, which are of ‘extremely serious’ nature.

On its part, the NCB’s Deputy Director Gyaneshwar Singh admitted on Wednesday that the duo – Bhanushali and Gosavi – was among more than half-a-dozen of its ‘independent witnesses’ during the agency’s swoop on the deluxe vessel berthed at the International Cruise Terminal.

Malik had earlier said that Bhanushali had posted his photos with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President J.P. Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, state Leader of Opposition (Assembly) Devendra Fadnavis, plus current and former Central and state ministers, as well as other senior BJP leaders.

He said that Bhanushali was in New Delhi and Gandhinagar in the last week of September, especially on September 21-22 when a huge drug haul was made from the Mundhra Port in Gujarat.

“The BJP should tell the people who is this person and how does he have access to such top people? The NCB must clarify in what capacity these two persons (Gosavi and Bhanushali) were seen during the so-called raid and arrests. Gosavi also has a criminal record in Pune. Is the NCB taking help of people with a criminal background to nab other accused,” Malik asked.

Reacting sharply, BJP’s Leaders of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis (Assembly) and Pravin Darekar (Council) promptly dismissed Malik’s contentions and said that he was levelling the allegations out of ‘frustration’ as his son-in-law Sameer Khan was nabbed by the NCB in January 2021.

Attacking the NCB, Malik contended that the entire (raid) operation was fraudulent, which was carried out with the sole purpose of hogging publicity, as no drugs were found from the arrested persons, neither was any panchnama done.

“In the past few days, rumours are being circulated that Shah Rukh Khan will be the next target. You know the relations between him and the BJP,” Malik said, supporting his claims with a audio-video presentation.

“The BJP and the NCB must come clear. Who are these two persons and why were they seen in the so-called ship raid? Both these persons are fake, and the NCB raid was a fraud intended only for grabbing publicity. What are the BJP’s connections with both of them,” Malik asked.

A bearded and bespectacled Bhanushali, sporting a maroon shirt, was seen dragging out Merchant and the bald Gosavi was seen pulling Aryan Khan out of the International Cruise Terminal late on Saturday, shocking the country and rattling the entertainment industry.

Speaking to a private Marathi TV channel, Bhanushali said that he had given the tip-off about the rave party to the NCB and was accompanying them as a ‘witness’ to affix his signature on the relevant case papers. He also warned of filing defamation proceedings against Malik.

Malik reiterated that since the past one year after the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, the NCB is only targeting high-profile film personalities, and raids are carried out with an eye on hogging publicity, defaming the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and instilling fear in the minds of Bollywood people.

Accusing the NCB of not adhering to its mandate of busting inter-state or international narcotics rackets, he said the agency only guns for high-profile celebrities to get publicity.

Maharashtra

Abu Asim response to Nitesh Rane’s statement that madrasas are the base of terrorism: Rane is a liar

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Mumbai: Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane, while demanding a ban on madrasas, called them a haven for terrorism and showed hostility towards Muslims, on which Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim has called Nitesh Rane a liar. He said that Nitesh Rane is lying about madrasas. No training for terrorism is given in madrasas in our country. This is the brainchild of Nitesh Rane. If there is any doubt, then madrasas should be monitored 24 hours a day with cameras. Defaming madrasas is just part of divisive politics. The fact is that madrasas educate orphans and poor children and make them good human beings. If we look at history, the students of these same madrasas sacrificed their lives for the country’s freedom. The purpose of madrasas has always been to serve humanity. BJP’s politics is now limited to Muslims, mosques, prayers and madrasas. He said that the way BJP and Nitesh Rane are conspiring to defame madrasas, they can never succeed in their goal because this madrasa is not your lair, but the people are made from the soil of this place. Politics is involved in all the allegations made against madrasas and that is why there is no need to pay attention to Nitesh Rane’s words, his job is to spread poison and divide Hindus into Muslims.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai Municipal Corporation presents budget with deficit of Rs 80,952.56 crore for 2026-27, 8.77% increase in expenditure over last year’s estimate

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Mumbai: Municipal Corporation (BMC) has presented its deficit budget for the current financial year. It has presented a budget of Rs 80,952.56 crore for the financial year 2026-27, against an estimate of Rs 89.84 crore. Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani presented the budget along with Standing Committee Chairman Prabhakar Shinde.

The new expenditure is higher than the previous year’s budget of Rs 74,427.41 crore. The civic body said it has adopted a policy of reducing administrative expenditure and has made strong arrangements for development works.

The corporation currently has Rs 81,449 crore and 32 lakh crore. Of this amount, Rs 44,826 crore and 23 lakh crore are earmarked deposits and cannot be used. The remaining amount of Rs 36,623 crore and 09 lakh crore can be used for other civic projects.

Officials said the corporation may break some deposits to fund infrastructure and development initiatives.
A key policy decision in the budget relates to outdoor advertising. The civic body has imposed a complete ban on billboards larger than 40 by 40 feet. It will also not allow billboards on footpaths or building roofs. No new approvals will be given for such structures. The move is aimed at improving public safety and curbing dangerous hoardings.

The budget has provided Rs 5,237 crore for the health department for 2026-27. The civic body also said that 1.35 crore citizens have availed services at the Hindu Hardai Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray Hospital. It plans to introduce free AI-based treatment for diabetes and eye diseases at the hospital.

To tackle the rising air pollution in the city, the corporation has allocated Rs 159.82 crore for environment and cleanliness. The budget includes Rs 1,000 crore as grant to BEST. The education department has been allocated Rs 4,248.8 crore. Solid waste management gets Rs 580.82 crore, while the storm water drainage department gets Rs 1,800 crore.

The allocation for infrastructure is Rs 6,875 crore for roads and transport, Rs 9,650 crore for bridges, Rs 950 crore for coastal road project, Rs 1,330 crore for water engineering and Rs 6,600 crore for sewerage project works. Rs 800 crore has been allocated for parks and zoos. The budget emphasizes administrative expenditure for infrastructure development.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: Ajit Pawar plane crash, Marine Drive police station refuses to register case against MLAs

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Mumbai: Police has refused to register a case in the Ajit Pawar plane crash case. NCP leader MLA Rohit Pawar along with other MLAs had today gone to Marine Drive police station and demanded that a case be registered in the Ajit Pawar plane crash or conspiracy case. The process of recording his confession statement was also going on, but in the meantime, the DCP and Additional Police Commissioner refused to register a case and said that a case cannot be registered in this matter. Expressing his displeasure, Rohit Pawar said that the purpose of registering an FIR today is that the DGCA has issued a circular on the basis of which action has been taken regarding the VSR company, on this basis the VSR company is responsible for this plane crash, yet the police have refused to register a case. He said that any citizen can register a complaint at the police station, this act says, but contrary to this, the police have refused to register a case. He said that efforts are underway to save the VSR company. He said that the police register cases for other crimes including assault, but why is the police not registering a case on the incident that happened with a Maratha leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar? This is completely wrong. Our struggle will continue until justice is achieved. He said that tomorrow morning we will try to register a complaint at the Baramati police station. Rohit Pawar expressed his disappointment and said that if a Deputy Chief Minister does not get justice, then what will happen to the common man? Regarding the registration of a case in the case of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the ruling party BJP has also taken its stand that a case should not be registered in this matter, while it has also recommended a CBI inquiry into this matter, but despite this inquiry, we have the right to register an FIR, yet we are being deprived of it and have refused to take an FIR.

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