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SC to hear Pegasus snooping case on Friday

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 The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the case relating to the Pegasus surveillance scandal on February 25, after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested for a new date before the Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, pointing out that he is supposed to be arguing a different part-heard case on Wednesday.

The Pegasus panel, appointed by the Supreme Court, have submitted an interim report appraising the apex court about the progress on the probe. The matter was listed for hearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli on February 23. The panel had earlier said that only two people submitted their mobile phones with it for forensic examination.

On October 27 last year, the top court said it was compelled to take up the cause to determine the truth, as it appointed an independent expert technical committee supervised by a retired top court judge, Justice R.V. Raveendran, to probe the Pegasus snooping allegations.

The top court had authorised the technical committee to devise its own procedure to effectively implement and answer the terms of reference. The committee can hold an investigation it deems fit and take statements of any person in connection with the inquiry and call for records of any authority or individual.

Justice Raveendran is overseeing the functioning of the technical committee and he is assisted by Alok Joshi, former IPS officer and Dr Sundeep Oberoi, Chairman, Sub Committee in International Organisation of Standardisation/International Electro-Technical Commission/Joint Technical Committee.

The three members of the technical committee are Dr Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Professor (Cyber Security and Digital Forensics) and Dean, National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Dr Prabaharan P., Professor (School of Engineering), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri, Kerala, and Dr Ashwin Anil Gumaste, Institute Chair, Associate Professor (Computer Science and Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

A batch of petitions, including those by advocate M.L. Sharma, CPI-M MP John Brittas, journalist N. Ram, former IIM professor Jagdeep Chokkar, Narendra Mishra, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Rupesh Kumar Singh, S.N.M. Abdi and Editors Guild of India were filed seeking an independent probe into the Pegasus snooping allegations.

Crime

Mumbai Crime News: Ola Driver Stabbed To Death In Malad After Clash With Illegal Parking Mafia

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Mumbai: In a shocking incident, a 27-year-old Ola driver, Sahil Gujjar, was brutally stabbed to death late Saturday night after an altercation with members of the illegal parking mafia in Malad.

The incident took place on Lagoon Road near Plot No. 50 in Malwani, where Gujjar had gone to return his rented car. According to police sources, a heated dispute erupted between the car owner and a man who was running an unauthorized parking operation in the area. When Gujjar tried to intervene, the situation escalated.

The accused reportedly called in reinforcements, and within minutes, nearly 10 to 15 men surrounded and attacked Gujjar. Amid the violent scuffle, he was stabbed in the stomach. Passersby rushed him to Shatabdi Hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries in the early hours of Sunday.

The Malwani Police have registered a case of murder and are identifying those involved in the attack. Police teams are scanning CCTV footage and conducting raids to track down the accused.

Similar Incident

In another incident, a 32-year-old man was killed in Sakinaka after a quarrel over parking escalated into a brutal assault. The incident had raised concerns about the unchecked operations of parking mafias across the city, often operating under the radar in busy residential and commercial zones.

The Malad case has once again highlighted the growing menace of such mafias and the urgent need for stricter policing. Residents have demanded that authorities crack down on unauthorized parking operators, warning that unchecked turf wars are putting ordinary citizens at risk.

Police said investigations are ongoing, and multiple teams have been deployed to arrest the accused at the earliest.

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Crime

Mumbai Customs Arrest Two Passengers With 8.5 Kg Hydroponic Weed Worth ₹8.56 Crore From Bangkok

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Mumbai: The Mumbai airport customs officials arrested two passengers for allegedly smuggling hydroponic weed worth Rs8.56 crore from Bangkok. The accused, Mohammad Swail, 23, and Sameer Khan, 21, both residents of Uttar Pradesh, were intercepted on Saturday while crossing the green channel at T2, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, based on spot profiling.

Passengers Admit Possession of Hydroponic Weed

On searching their baggage, customs officers recovered packets containing green dry leafy substance, identified as flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant, commonly called Hydroponic Weed, covered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act. A total of 8,562 grams of weed was seized. During questioning, both admitted knowledge, possession, concealment, and recovery of the narcotics. Investigations also revealed the involvement of other persons who are yet to be traced.

A customs official said efforts are underway to identify associates and determine who was to receive the consignment. Advocates Prabhakar Tripathi and Shubham Upadhyay argued in court that the accused were misled into carrying the baggage, believing it contained food items, and had no knowledge of the concealed drugs. Both were remanded to judicial custody.

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Crime

32-Year-Old Man Arrested For Hoax Bomb Threat To Mumbai Police Control Room; Suspect Was Drunk & Had Past Record Of Similar Calls

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Mumbai: Panic gripped the Mumbai Police force on Thursday evening after the control room received a call from an unidentified person claiming that a bomb would be detonated inside a suburban local train — the city’s lifeline. Within hours, the Azad Maidan police special team traced and arrested the caller, identified as Suraj Dharma Jadhav (32), from Kalina, Santacruz.

According to police officials, Jadhav, who is addicted to alcohol, has a past record of making similar hoax bomb threat calls to the police.

About The Case

On Thursday, after consuming liquor, he allegedly phoned the police control room and declared that he would trigger a blast in a suburban train before abruptly disconnecting the call. When police dialed back, the number was found switched off.

With Independence Day around the corner, senior police officials took the threat very seriously and directed the local police, Railway Police, and the Crime Branch to conduct immediate checks. Security was tightened across railway stations, with increased deployment, baggage checks, and inspection of suspicious individuals. However, no suspicious object was found.

Investigators traced the call to Kalina and picked up Jadhav for questioning. During interrogation, he confessed to making the hoax bomb threat. Police revealed that he had earlier been arrested for a similar offense and was out on bail. Despite having been bound down previously under preventive action by the Assistant Commissioner of Police’s office, Jadhav repeated the offense. Authorities have now warned that stricter action will be taken if he violates the bond conditions again.

Meanwhile, the Railway Police Force (RPF) and local police continued heightened vigilance at key stations following the threat.

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