Maharashtra
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut terms ED an ‘extortionist’ and BJP’s ‘ATM’
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
Impact of Maharashtra Bandh: Student protests intensify in Mumbai, road blockades in Chembur and Kurla, police alert, Chief Minister orders action

Mumbai: Due to the Maharashtra bandh in Mumbai Shivaji Park, Kurla, Chambor, Chunabhatti, Mankhurd and other suburban areas, the VBA took out a protest demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan. Meanwhile, the police detained protesters from Chembor, Kurla and other areas and later released the protesters. The normal system in Mumbai remained affected due to the Maharashtra bandh, but schools, colleges and public transport were running as usual. Along with this, in the Kurla area of Mumbai, women protesters took to the streets and blocked the road in protest against the Net Paper Leak issue, due to which the traffic system was affected. Later, the police removed the women from the road and normal life returned to normal. The Maharashtra bandh has affected normal order in various areas of Mumbai. The Thackeray brothers and Amit and Aaditya Thackeray have also supported the protesters in Shivaji Park. Now the Thackeray brothers have made it clear in the press conference that they will march on July 26. If anyone tries to create chaos or stone pelting or violence like Delhi, they will not be tolerated and the MNS will respond to it. Along with this, Raj Thackeray has announced a peaceful protest and has threatened the government that if any attempt is made to create unrest in this protest, it will be responded to. Today, several protesters and leaders were detained during the protest.
Police driver threatens to implicate students in drug case
After the video of Shivaji Park threatening to implicate students in drug case went viral, an inquiry has been started against the constable in this matter and in this matter, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the inquiry of the constable is going on and he has been removed from here. It is unfortunate that the video has gone viral in this matter. Devendra Fadnavis said that under the guise of this protest, Uddhav Thackeray is trying to save his existence. He said that in Maharashtra too, the paper has been leaked in the Uddhav Thackeray government.
Maharashtra
A public movement in Mumbai warns against UP government’s action on Jauhar University! Meeting of scholars and intellectuals at Islam Gymkhana, appeal to the state governor to intervene

Mumbai: The Uttar Pradesh government’s order to demolish parts of Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur has drawn strong reactions in Mumbai. An important meeting was held today at the famous ‘Islam Gymkhana’ in Mumbai against this action. The participants made serious allegations and said that instead of establishing new centers for higher education, the government is destroying an institution that shapes the future of thousands of students. The speakers in the meeting stressed that this issue is not limited to a single building but is related to the educational future of thousands of students, the education system and the rights of minorities. They were of the view that if there were any technical irregularities in the operations or construction of the university, the government should have tried to correct them within the legal framework and save the institution. Instead of finding any constructive solution, this action is being taken only in the spirit of political revenge. The meeting unanimously condemned this unfair policy in the strongest terms. Important resolutions were passed in the meeting to determine the future course of action. It was decided that a delegation would immediately meet the Governor of Maharashtra and submit a memorandum, urging him to direct the Uttar Pradesh government to intervene in the matter. A warning was also issued that if the government took further action against Jauhar University, a massive public movement would be launched in Mumbai. This important meeting was attended by a large number of prominent scholars, social workers, and intellectuals of Mumbai, including MLAs Abu Asim Azmi, Yousuf Abrahani, Meraj Siddiqui, Maulana Anis Ashrafi, Aamir Idrisi, Saleem Alwar, Saeed Hamid, Sarfaraz Arzoo, and Dr. Zeba Malik.
Maharashtra
Modak Sagar Lake, which supplies water to Mumbai, also overflowed, with the total water storage in all 7 lakes at 69.74% capacity.

Mumbai: Modak Sagar Lake, one of the seven lakes supplying water to the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) area, started flowing at 2:07 am today (July 23, 2026). The BMC’s Hydraulic Engineering Department said that a gate of the lake has been opened. The water level in the reservoir has increased rapidly due to continuous, heavy rainfall in the areas occupied by the lakes over the past few days. The maximum water storage capacity of Modak Sagar Lake, which started flowing from tonight, is 12,892.5 crore litres (128,925 million litres). In previous years, Modak Sagar Lake started flowing on July 9, 2025, July 25, 2024 and July 27, 2023.
The total maximum water storage capacity of the seven dams supplying water to Mumbai is about 1,44,736.3 crore litres (1,447,363 million litres). As of 6:00 AM today, the total water storage in all seven lakes is 1,00,943.2 crore litres (1,009,432 million litres). This water storage is 69.74% of the maximum water storage capacity of the lakes, which is 1,447,363 million litres.
Additional Information
1) The Modak Sagar Project, built on the Vetarna River in Shahpur taluka of Thane district, is a key water source meeting the drinking water needs of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
2) The construction of the project was completed in 1954, and it is managed by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
3) Located 120 km from Mumbai, the project has a structure length of 548.64 metres and a height of 82.296 metres.
4) The total catchment area is 450.625 sq km, and it contributes 11.22% to the total water supply provided to Mumbai.
5) Out of the seven lakes supplying water to the BMC area, Modak Sagar Lake has started flowing from today. Ahead of this monsoon season, Tansa Lake started flowing at 8:51 am on July 22, 2026. ‘Vihar’ Lake started overflowing at 9:00 pm on July 7, 2026, and ‘Tulsi’ Lake also started flowing at 11:43 pm on the same day (2026). Thus, as of July 23, 2026, four of the seven lakes supplying water to the BMC area have filled and overflowed.
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