Mumbai: The Mumbai Police on Tuesday took into custody Aamir Sayyed, the boyfriend of arrested drug peddler Ashwini Paul, from jail in connection with an Ecstasy pills drug case.

According to police sources, Aamir Sayyed is suspected to have supplied around 5,000 Ecstasy pills that were recovered from Ashwini Paul. Investigators are now probing the source of the contraband and his wider network.

Earlier, the Anti-Narcotics Cell had arrested Ashwini Paul from Titwala on Saturday with a massive consignment of Ecstasy tablets reportedly valued at around ₹6 crore. Two other accused were also arrested in the case.

During the investigation, Sayyed’s name surfaced as a key supplier. However, police found that he was already lodged in jail. He was subsequently taken into custody for questioning in this case.

Officials revealed that Sayyed had previously been arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in a cocaine seizure case. After being released on bail, he allegedly resumed drug trafficking activities.

His bail was cancelled in February after he repeatedly failed to appear for court hearings, following which the DRI sent him back to jail.

Police said that during his bail period, Sayyed had supplied Ecstasy pills to Ashwini Paul for distribution. Further investigation is underway.

Mumbai: A welcome change in the weather brought relief to Mumbai on Wednesday morning, as cloudy skies and cool breezes helped ease smog and rising pollution levels. Visuals from Nariman Point and Marine Drive showed overcast conditions, with the early morning temperature hovering around 28°C.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city is expected to witness partly cloudy skies through the day, with chances of thunderstorms and lightning. Temperatures are likely to range between 26°C and 34°C.

Air quality across the city showed marked improvement, with the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 62 in the early hours, placing it in the ‘moderate’ category. This comes after significantly cleaner air readings earlier this month, when AQI levels dipped as low as 31 and even 21 in some areas.

The improvement is largely due to recent enforcement drives by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) against construction sites violating pollution control norms. Both private and public projects were targeted to curb dust emissions.

However, the improvement has not been uniform across the city. Ghatkopar East emerged as a pollution hotspot with an AQI of 130, falling in the ‘poor’ category, followed by Chembur at 110.

Meanwhile, several areas recorded significantly cleaner air. Andheri reported an AQI of 12, while Gamdevi recorded 18. Dahisar and Walkeshwar logged AQI levels of 38 each, and Kandivali West stood at 40, placing all these areas in the ‘good’ category.

As per standard AQI classifications, values between 0 and 50 are considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘moderate’, 101 to 200 ‘poor’, 201 to 300 ‘unhealthy’, and above 300 ‘severe’.

The ‘E’ Ward Department of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation recently took action against old furniture vendors and other encroachments on Maulana Shaukat Ali Marg under the ‘E’ Department. This action was taken under the guidance of Deputy Commissioner (Zone 1) Chanda Jadhav and led by Assistant Commissioner Anand Kankal. The encroachments on Maulana Shaukat Ali Marg in the ‘E’ Department, especially in the area from Muralideora Eye Hospital to JJ Hospital Signal, were causing a lot of trouble to the pedestrians. The pedestrians were forced to walk on the road instead of the footpath, which was putting their lives at risk. Keeping this situation in mind, the Conservation and Encroachment Elimination teams of the ‘E’ Division of the Municipal Corporation jointly launched a campaign along with the Mumbai Police. During this eviction operation, a crackdown and strict action was taken against the furniture vendors. The old furniture lying on the footpaths was destroyed on the spot with the help of JCB. Along with this, the waste of broken furniture was also removed immediately. All encroachments on the footpath were removed. In addition, action was also taken against unauthorized hawkers in the area. Due to which the road was completely opened for traffic.

1 JCB, 4 laborers, 3 officers and 2 engineers participated in this campaign. In addition, 9 personnel from Nagpara Police Station were deployed for security. Meanwhile, the ‘E’ Division of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation is once again making it clear on this occasion that regular action will continue against unauthorized constructions and unauthorized hawkers.