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Maharashtra

SC shields ex-IAS trainee officer Puja Khedkar from arrest

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New Delhi, Jan 15: In an interim order passed on Wednesday, the Supreme Court directed that no coercive action be taken against sacked Maharashtra cadre probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, who allegedly submitted false OBC and PwBD (Persons with Benchmark Disabilities) certificates and fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limits provided for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) by faking her identity.

Issuing notice on Puja Khedkar’s anticipatory bail plea, a bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and S.C. Sharma asked the Delhi Police and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to file its reply in the matter by February 14.

In the meantime, Justice Nagarathna-led Bench granted protection to Puja Khedkar from arrest.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had dismissed Khedkar’s pre-arrest bail petition and vacated its earlier order shielding her from arrest.

In its judgment delivered on December 15, 2024, a bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh opined that prima facie, a strong case was made out against Khedkar, adding that custodial interrogation of a person accused of an offence of such nature is required to unearth the facts.

Justice Singh-led Bench, on November 28, 2024, reserved its decision on her anticipatory bail plea after hearing both sides. It was then clarified that till the judgment is delivered, the interim relief granted earlier on August 12 shielding Khedkar from arrest will continue.

Before this, a court here had turned down her anticipatory bail plea and asked the investigating agency to find out if anyone from inside the UPSC had helped Khedkar. Widening the scope of the probe, Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala had asked Delhi Police to investigate if other people recommended by the UPSC have availed quota benefits without entitlement.

The Centre, on September 7, 2024, sacked Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with immediate effect, a month after the UPSC cancelled her selection in government service.

Khedkar has been found guilty of faking and wrongly availing OBC and disability quota benefits. After cancelling her selection, the UPSC also barred her for life from taking the entrance exam after finding her guilty of faking her identity to take the exam multiple times.

In a status report submitted to the Delhi High Court, the city Police had contended that former Maharashtra cadre probationary IAS officer Khedkar had submitted two separate disability certificates for her UPSC exam. The disability certificates dated 2018 and 2021 citing ‘multiple disabilities’ were purportedly issued by the Ahmednagar District Civil Hospital for her UPSC attempts made in 2022 and 2023. However, as per Delhi Police’s status report, the hospital authorities had denied that the certificates claiming ‘multiple disabilities’ were issued to her by them.

It was found that Khedkar availed relaxed criteria for OBC candidates and persons with disabilities.

It then came to light that her father, a former Maharashtra government officer, had property to the tune of Rs 40 crore and that she did not qualify for the non-creamy layer OBC quota.

he UPSC had said that its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) “could not detect her number of attempts primarily because she changed not only her name but also her parents’ names”.

Maharashtra

Controversy over offering prayers at Hazrat Khwaja Shah Dargah in Pune Saniwar Wada… Hindu organizations protest, tense situation, peace maintained, police arrangements increased.

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Mumbai: In the ancient historical fort of Saniwar Wada area of ​​Pune, Muslim women offered Friday prayers in the premises of the shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Syed Shah (may Allah be pleased with him), after which the police have registered a case against the three prayers and started an investigation. A conspiracy has started to give this incident a religious color. BJP MP Medha Kulkarni took out a front here to straighten out the area and demanded that a case be registered. The police have registered a case against the three unidentified women under pressure from Hindu organizations, while the situation in Pune has become extremely tense after this incident.

The video of the three worshippers offering prayers went viral on social media at the time, on this basis the police have registered a case, while in Pune, Medha Kulkarni said that offering prayers in Saniwar Wada will not be tolerated. After offering prayers in Saniwar Wada, politics has also started on it by giving it a Hindu-Muslim color. After the video went viral, a Hindu organization named Patis Pawan filed a written complaint and the police have registered a complaint on the complaint of Ishwar Babban Kode. The accused have not been arrested yet. There is a fear that Hindu organizations will once again stage a protest in Saniwar Wada. After rejecting the protest, sectarians led by Medha Kulkarni raised slogans of Jai Shri Ram and hoisted saffron flags on the dargah’s lattice. Not only that, Siddhi Karan was performed outside the premises and Gautam Buddha was sprayed. The situation is peaceful, but tension remains. This dargah is under the influence of the Waqf Board and now Hindu organizations have also started demanding the removal of this shrine. The police have issued an alert after this incident and have increased the arrangements.

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Maharashtra

“Mumbai Deepfake Fake Video Share Trading Fraud Interstate Gang Uncovered ; 4 arrested”

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Mumbai: The Cyber ​​Cell of Mumbai Crime Branch has claimed to have busted an inter-state gang that was trying to lure investors into investing in the share market by creating fake and deepfake videos of experts on a renowned business news channel. The complainant is a registered analyst with SEBI. On September 29, 2025, an attempt was made to lure investors into investing in the share market by using his fake deepfake video on social media. The complainant is a share trading expert and also works for various companies. An attempt was made to deceive him by creating a deepfake video on his Instagram. When the complainant got the information, he filed a complaint against him at the Cyber ​​Police Station. When the investigation was started, his trace was found in another state. The accused were working as an inter-state gang. The accused were arrested from Bengaluru, Karnataka. The accused have been identified as Jijel Sebastian, 44, of Bengaluru, Dipane Tapan Banerjee, 40, of Karnataka, Daniel Arudha is 25 years old from Bengaluru, and Chandrashekhar is 42 years old. This interstate gang has created deepfake accounts on social media including Facebook to lure big companies into share trading and has cheated ordinary citizens and companies on deepfake social media accounts to prepare companies for fraud and has violated the terms and conditions of the share market company. This gang has created fake accounts several times. The accused have created a Facebook ID in the name of Wellelip India Services Private Limited and received 30 million Indian currency in Dubai currency from a Chinese citizen in the name of investment. In India and Mumbai, fraud is being committed in the name of share trading under the guise of deepfake and fake videos. Therefore, creating such fake videos on social media and committing fraud is a serious crime and action will be taken against it. This action has been taken by the Cyber ​​Cell of Mumbai Crime Branch here on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti. DCP of Mumbai Cyber ​​Crime Parshottam Karad said that this action has been taken in the case of cyber fraud and this interstate gang has created fake accounts on social media. Fraud was committed by creating an account, so there is a need to be alert during share trading. Cases of creating deep fake accounts of famous companies have come to light. Attempts to commit fraud are being made by creating fake accounts of famous companies on Instagram and Facebook. Therefore, verification is mandatory before share trading. Before share trading, one should invest in the share market only after consulting an authentic and experienced SEBI officer and expert. Do not trust social media and avoid investing on the basis of calls and SSMs on social media. This poses a risk of fraud. So far, the police have registered more than 600 cases of share trading, in which fraud of Rs 400 crore has been committed and in many cases, money has been recovered and frozen from the bank account. These accused also used to create deep fake videos with the help of AI.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: BEST Employees Receive ₹31,000 Diwali Bonus Credited Ahead Of Festival, Bringing Festive Cheer To 23,596 Staff

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Mumbai: Bringing festive cheer ahead of Diwali, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking has announced an ‘ Bonus ‘of Rs 31,000 (Rupees Thirty-One Thousand Only) to each of its 23,596 officers and employees. The bonus amount was credited directly into their bank accounts on Friday, October 17, 2025 (Vasu Baras), much to the delight of the workforce.

This year’s ex-gratia amount marks an increase compared to last year, and has created a wave of happiness among the employees. The timely credit of the Diwali bonus ahead of the festival has given employees the financial boost to make festive purchases on the occasion of Dhanteras.

BEST Workers Union office-bearers met with the newly appointed General Manager of BEST, Dr. Sonia Sethi recently, at the BEST Bhavan in Colaba. During the meeting, discussions were held regarding long-standing demands of the employees, including the Diwali ex-gratia. Dr. Sethi assured the union representatives that BEST employees would receive a Diwali bonus on par with their counterparts in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

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