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Maharashtra

Shiv Sena’s Raut alleges ED out to ‘fix’ him, asks VP to ‘rein in’ agency

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In an unprecedented move, Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party Leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut has knocked the doors of Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, the Chairman of the upper house, with a plea to “rein in” the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and stop harassment of opposition political leaders.

Among the stunning points by Raut is how alleged cases are being on filed and probed on decades-old transactions, he was pressurised to help bring down the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to force a mid-term election, and threatened with jail term along with two other state Cabinet Ministers, if he refused to cooperate.

Shooting off a 4-page letter, he has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of systematically targetting its erstwhile ally Shiv Sena leaders or persons close to them like family, relatives, friends, acquaintences by letting loose Central agencies like the ED against them.

Raut contended that the BJP used the probe agencies not only for harassment/ intimidation of leaders of other political parties but also to topple democratically-elected governments.

“This is certainly not a healthy sign for any country where democracy prevails,” pointed out Raut, who has received full support from the Sena leaders, Nationalist Congress Party, and the Congress while the Aam Aadmi Party was left “amused”.

The development comes a year after independent Lok Sabha MP from Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli Mohan Delkar had made similar complaints to the Centre and later committed suicide in a Mumbai hotel in February 2021. Later his widow Kala M. Delkar won the same seat in a bypoll late last year.

Raut cited the instance of January when some persons approached him to assist ousting the MVA government of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to force a mid-term Assembly poll in the state, and when he refused to join the clandestine efforts, was warned of a fate similar to RJD leader Lalu Prasad with many years in jail, and that two Cabinet Ministers and 2 other senior state leaders would also be sent behind bars.

He said that there were two small property deals he conducted 10 and 17 years ago, which were duly declared by him in the election affidavits, and now the ED and other agencies are “probing” those deals, threatening the property sellers and their families are being harassed and threatened to give false statements against Raut or face jail or property seizure.

Referring to his daughter’s wedding in November 2021, Raut said that some 28 of the decorators and vendors have been picked up illegally, taken to the ED office where they are intimated into giving statements that he (Raut) made Rs 5 million in cash payments, warned of detention or arrest.

“In fact, some of the ED and other agencies personnel have even confessed to the very people they are summoning that they have been asked by their bosses to ‘fix’ me,” Raut said, adding how the Central agencies are reduced to puppets of their political masters.

Senior MVA leaders like Minister Aditya Thackeray, Kishore Tiwari, MP Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena), NCP’s Nawab Malik and Congress’ Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe came out in full support of Raut.

BJP’s Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, however,charged Raut of playing the “victim card” and said that tigers cannot be scared of wolves.

“Raut is an editor and know how to make headlines or earn mileage from them… In (PM Narendra) Modi’s government no one can victimise anyone and hence Raut is playing a victim card,” said Fadnavis.

Opposition AAP leader Preeti Sharma-Menon said she was “amused” by Raut’s allegations of “misuse/abuse of power” by Central law enforcement agencies, and the “Shiv Sena is no paragon of virtue”.

She also slammed the BJP for “vendetta driver witchhunt of Opposition leaders” through systematic misuse of central agencies like the ED, the NCB, and the CBI by subverting the criminal justice system and grossly abusing the power vested in them.

Harking to similar tactics of BJP in Delhi – where AAP is in power, she said the BJP’s “diabolic plans” came to nought and these agencies were also pulled up by the courts.

“The Sena should learn from AAP and welcome scrutiny. It must walk the talk if it has nothing to hide and emerge unscathed. Or, maybe the Sena does have skeletons, nay, an entire graveyard in its closet for such was its association with the BJP, whom it divorced only recently (2019),” said Sharma-Menon.

Raut has also warned that he would soon come up with an “expose” on the ED, while Malik said the MVA would unitedly vanquish the BJP at the Centre.

For special effects, Raut closed his letter with the famed poem penned by the legendary anti-Nazi German pastor Martin Niemoller: “First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Maharashtra

Bihar’s crores thief Aamir Kabir arrested from Mumbai

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Mumbai: Mumbai Malad Police has arrested a clever prince thief who used to disguise himself as a woman to escape from the police and used railway tracks to avoid CCTV cameras. Malad Police has seized a gold melting machine, 36 tolas of gold and silver jewellery, women’s clothes and cash from the thief. Police investigation has revealed that the accused thief has many bungalows and flats. He was committing such thefts for a long time, but was not caught yet. However, he has committed dozens of such thefts so far. Malad Police has arrested Prince Aamir Kabir thief after a lot of hard work and further investigation is on.

According to ACP Hemant Sawant of Malad Division, the clever accused Ranjeet Kumar Upendra alias Munna (44) is a resident of Babuganj in Bihar. He was arrested from Malad Malwani area. To escape from the police, the accused used to steal by disguising himself as a woman and sometimes used to walk on the railway track in the guise of a beggar to steal. According to senior Malad police officer Vijay Panhale, property worth about 57 lakhs has been seized from the accused, which includes 16 lakh cash deposited in the bank and jewelry and goods worth 41 lakhs. So far 8 cases have been registered against this clever thief, but he has not been arrested anywhere.

This disclosure has been made after the team of Malad Police Station’s investigating officer Tushar Sukhdev, Santosh Satwase, Amit Govind, Avinash Jadhav, constable Mahesh Doifode examined more than 150 CCTV cameras from the railway track and other places. The police is expecting more such serious revelations as the accused has been cleverly escaping from the spot while committing countless such crimes for the last 10 years and has become the owner of flats, land and bungalows worth crores.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: 3 arrested for fraud in the name of providing gold at cheap price

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Mumbai: Mumbai Police has busted a gang that claimed to import gold from abroad and provide gold to people at cheap prices by becoming a self-styled police. The police have claimed to have arrested three members of this gang – according to the details, they gained the trust of the complainant by promising to import pure gold from abroad and sell it at a low price. It may be noted that the accused cheated the complainant by calling him Rs 2 lakh in cash and disguising himself as a police officer on May 27, 2025 at around 3:30 pm at BMW Showroom, CST Road, Kalina, Santa Cruz East Mumbai and not giving the gold to the complainant. The police have registered a case of cheating in this case.

During the search for the accused in this crime, information was received from technical investigation and confidential informant that the said accused was going to come to CST Road, Kalina, Santa Cruz Mumbai on June 2. Accordingly, the BKC Police Station Crime Detection Team had laid a trap at the said place. When the accused CST reached there around 4 pm, the police team identified the accused and kept an eye on him. However, as soon as they suspected the matter, the accused fled from Kurla and got into his motor car parked in front of the BMW showroom. The said motor car and the accused were chased by the police team. At that time, the said accused and his accomplices fled the car leaving the car on the road. The police team chased the accused who had snatched the motor car and out of the 04 accused who were riding in the motor car, 3 accused were arrested and arrested at different places.

The arrested 3 accused are criminals and criminal cases are registered against them in different police stations.
The identity of the accused whom the police have arrested in this case is, Muhammad Mohsin Abu Bilal Chaudhary, 33 years old, against him, Other cases including cheating are registered in BKC, Nowghar, Ghatkopar.
Cases have been registered against Tabrez Younis Qureshi, 39, at BKC, Gujrat, and Nowghar police stations. Cases have been registered against Pradeep Dadaram Thorat, 37, at BKC, Parghar police stations, including cases of assault and violence. DCP Manish Kalaniya has not ruled out further arrests in this case and the police are hopeful of more revelations in the investigation. DCP Manish said that this group used to cheat under the guise of providing gold. The investigation is also underway to find out how many people this group has fooled and cheated through this method so far and the investigation is underway under the guidance of senior officers.

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Maharashtra

The decision to keep cattle markets closed on Eid-ul-Azha in Maharashtra was withdrawn

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Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has also withdrawn the proposal to ensure peace and order on Eid-ul-Adha in Mumbai and to keep the cattle market closed. Earlier, a proposal was made to keep the cattle market closed during Eid-ul-Adha, which was opposed by Muslims, and after that, this decision has also been withdrawn. Before Eid-ul-Adha in Mumbai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has issued necessary orders for Eid-ul-Adha in a peaceful atmosphere. In a meeting of Muslim representatives, the Chief Minister accepted all the demands of Muslims and assured them of taking necessary steps during the sacrifice, from providing facilities at the goat market in Deonar to providing necessary facilities. Abu Asim Azmi said that BJP leaders Kirit Somaiya and Nitish Rane are trying to spoil the atmosphere.

They are announcing that there will be no sacrifice to put pressure on the society, but this demand was also made to the Chief Minister that there should be no obstruction in the process of sacrifice in those societies where sacrifice is done. Muslim representatives also demanded to keep an eye on the mischief of miscreants during the sacrifice and take necessary action against anti-social elements. The Chief Minister assured that like every year, the sacrifice process will end peacefully this year too. He has accepted all the demands of the Muslims and given special consideration to every issue. Abu Asim Azmi said that there is a need to curb the mischief of miscreants during the sacrifice so that the situation remains peaceful. Instructions have also been given that animal traders in Deonar do not face any kind of problem. At the same time, the distress of the traders due to the animals’ carts not being emptied for 36 hours was also discussed. The Chief Minister has also banned the collection of additional fees.

In an important meeting, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured that like every year, facilities will be provided on Eid-ul-Adha this time too, and peace and order will be maintained. The proposal to close the animal market was withdrawn and the fee for sacrificial animals was reduced from Rs 200 to Rs 20. The Chief Minister also issued an order to take action against those involved in corruption. Those spreading hatred are trying to spoil the atmosphere on Eid by creating Hindu-Muslim differences. Azmi has also demanded a ban on the language of these sectarians. The Chief Minister has directed to pay special attention to maintaining order during the sacrifice.

Abu Asim Azmi told the Chief Minister that an additional fee was collected for emptying the animal cart, Rs. 500 instead of Rs. 200, Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 5,000 was collected for parking, the fee of the goat of the trader who is not sold during Eid-ul-Adha should be refunded, earlier the fee of the goat for deonar was Rs. 20, it should be increased to Rs. 200, five gates and five push gates should be set up for unloading the goat in deonar, along with this, there is a rush of buyers during the sacrifice, three windows should be started for the convenience of the customers, the Chief Minister approved all these demands and issued necessary orders.

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