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Maharashtra

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut terms ED an ‘extortionist’ and BJP’s ‘ATM’

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Making a sensational allegation, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is running extortion rackets in Maharashtra and West Bengal and has become the ‘ATM’ of the BJP, with activist Kirit Somaiya acting as their ‘collection agent’.

“The maximum operations of the ED and Income Tax Department are in Maharashtra and West Bengal. Today, a series of ITD raids are being carried out in Maharashtra,” said Shiv Sena Chief Spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut.

The ED-ITD have carried out 14 operations in Maharashtra and 7 in West Bengal with the sole design of instilling fear and toppling the two states’ governments, he told a media conference.

Flanked by Mumbai South Sena MP Arvind Sawant, Raut said in the past few years, the ED has zeroed in on around 100 top builders and corporate houses to ‘extort’ hundreds of crores of rupees from them, with Somaiya acting as their conduit.

He claimed that one Jitendra Chandralal Navlani, who is a director in 7 companies is acting as the keeper of the ill-gotten wealth and ‘benami properties’ of ED officials and BJP leaders.

“The ED started ‘investigating’ these builders and corporate houses, but soon afterwards large sums of monies were transferred from various targeted persons to Navlani’s seven companies. Who is he and what are his connections with the BJP leaders? Will the ED-ITD take action against him, as they keep doing against us?” demanded Raut.

He listed the names of the chemicals giant United Phosphorus Ltd, the mega-engineering company Larsen & Toubro, K. Raheja Pvt Ltd, DHFL, builder Avinash Bhosale, IndiaBulls, HDIL, Omkar Realty, Wadhwa Realty, Inorbit Malls, DB Realty, Panorama Studios, Pallazio Hotels, Gaylord Co Ltd, Monsher Fire Protection Systems Pvt Ltd, Nerka Chemicals, and others who allegedly coughed out monies to Navlani’s various companies.

He said after these ‘bribe’ monies were transferred, the ED went slow, did not arrest, weaken case or exonerated the accused, but where the public pressure was huge or backlash from courts was expected, they made some arrests, but took care that their families were protected and all their assets were not seized to broker a deal later, with persons like Somaiya.

Dismissing outright the allegations against him, Somaiya told mediapersons that he has no connections with Navlani or any of the other persons mentioned by Raut and denied that he is an ‘agent’ for the ED, but vowed to continue his crusade against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

Raut reiterated that on February 28, he had submitted a detailed 13-page complaint to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, and is awaiting action.

The Sena MP said he has also given around 50 names to the ED-ITD with thousands of documentary evidence, but till date no action has been taken on it, and said that those tasked with prevention of money-laundering have themselves become money-launderers.

He charged the ED with doing the government’s bidding to threaten, intimidate, fix political opponents and dissenters and in turn, the ED officers run their massive extortion rackets of crores of rupees which are laundered or held through fronts and mules like Navlani, Farid Sama and many others.

“There are many names and many particulars which will shock the conscience,” Raut wrote to the PM.

“Today, our Sena leader Arvind Bhosale has submitted a detailed complaint on these matters to the Mumbai Police which will soon start its probe. Somaiya, his son Neil Somaiya will definitely go to jail, besides other officials,” Raut declared.

Maharashtra

Hateful statements, obscenity in the name of entertainment will not be tolerated, strict action will be taken: Mayor Ritu Tawde

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Mumbai: The hospital administration has formed an inquiry committee in the case of hate speech made by Sejal Pawar, a medical student of KEM Hospital, in the live show of stand-up comedian Preneet More. Hate speech in the name of entertainment will not be tolerated. The hospital administration has been directed to take strict action in this matter, Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde has clarified.

Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde has reacted strongly to the entire incident and has appealed to artists and content creators to be aware of social responsibility. Two clips of stand-up comedian Preneet More’s show that are going viral on social media are causing great anger among the citizens. In the first clip, a man named Himanshu Jagda narrated an incident of degrading treatment of a woman, while in the second clip, Sejal Pawar, a medical student of KEM Hospital, made extremely hateful, obscene and offensive comments about the bodies of men who had donated their bodies for medical education. In both these cases, comedian Praneet laughed and clapped instead of objecting. Taking notice of the insensitivity in both these clips, the Maharashtra Cyber ​​Police took immediate action and registered a case. Clarifying the municipal corporation’s stand on the matter and fully supporting the legal action, Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde explained that the Maharashtra Cyber ​​Department has taken action. Apart from this, the KEM Hospital administration has also appointed a committee to investigate Sejal Pawar. The Mayor clarified that the hospital administration has been directed to take strict action in this matter. Mayor Tawde further said that freedom of expression is a very important part of democracy, but in the name of this freedom, content that insults women, obscenity, hate speech, hateful content or content that sends the wrong message to the society cannot be accepted under any circumstances. Everyone should respect boundaries while discussing sensitive issues related to women, consent and the medical sector in a public forum. Mumbai is a city of culture, art and freedom of thought. However, it is the collective responsibility of all to ensure that no one’s dignity is violated in the name of entertainment. Since social media has a great influence on the youth, the impact of such content on society should be seriously considered. Everyone should be sensitive to this. All artists, digital content creators and social media influencers should preserve their creative talents while maintaining a sense of social interest, sensitivity and morality. Citizens should also behave responsibly on social media and strongly oppose things that promote hatred, obscenity and anti-women mentality, Ritu Tawde has also appealed on this occasion.

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Maharashtra

MLA Abu Asim Azmi demands Interior Minister to allow Muharram sermons and gatherings until 9pm

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Mumbai: In view of the importance of the holy days of Muharram, the time of public religious speeches, sermons and gatherings held during this period should be extended from 10 am to 12 pm, MLA Abu Asim Azmi has sent a memorandum to the state Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis, making this strong demand.

MLA Azmi has said in his letter that public speeches, sermons and gatherings are organized in different areas at night during Muharram, in which a large number of devotees participate. Currently, Maghrib prayers are offered at around 7 pm, after which a lot of time is spent until the Isha prayers are completed. The police administration is currently allowing only up to 10 pm, due to which very little time is required for the actual program after the prayers. Due to this shortage of time, there is anxiety among Muslims and they are not able to fully benefit from these religious speeches.

In view of this situation, with full respect for law and order, this time should be extended till 12 midnight for the scheduled dates of Muharram. MLA Abu Asim Azmi has demanded that the Home Minister himself intervene in the matter and immediately issue positive orders to the police administration. Copies of this memorandum have also been sent to the Chief Minister and Mumbai Police Joint Commissioner (Law and Order) Devin Bharti for necessary action.

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Maharashtra

Mira Road C-Queen Palace Orchestra Bar raided, 12 women recovered, 9 arrested

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A team led by DCP Rahul Chavan of Mira Road Police Commissionerate, Circle 1, raided the Sea Queen Palace Orchestra Bar in front of Daraz Dhaba on Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway under the limits of Kashigaon Police Station on Mira Road. During the raid, the police rescued 12 women. A cashier and 8 waiters were arrested, including the driver, owner and manager of the bar who are absconding. During the raid, Rs 50,000 in cash was seized. Along with this, illegal stocks of whiskey and beer were seized. Further investigation is underway in the case. It is said that an illegal dance and entertainment party was going on in the bar. During this, the police raided and arrested the accused and also released 12 dancers.

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