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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.”

Crime

Fake social media account, Chat GPT used in Ketan Agarwal murder

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Pune, Sep 20: A fake account on social media platform Instagram, along with ChatGPT and murder films, was used by Siya Goyal and her co-accused in the alleged murder of her fiance Ketan Agarwal, reveals the charge sheet filed by the police in the sensational case.

The 5,053-page charge sheet, filed on Saturday, detailed the alleged conspiracy behind the death of the 26-year-old businessman at Lohagad Fort in Pune in June, NDTV reported.

Agarwal was allegedly pushed off the fort on June 18 by his fiancee Siya Goyal, who was assisted by her purported lover Chetan Chaudhary, and another accused, identified as Ritesh Hange. All three have been arrested by the police.

According to the charge sheet, the accused had initially discussed seriously injuring Agarwal and even explored the possibility of hiring someone from outside Maharashtra to carry out the attack.

Police claimed the plan was later dropped because they feared the hired assailant could expose the conspiracy or create problems for them. Investigators have mentioned that a person contacted during this stage has since become a witness, the media report said.

As per the charge sheet, the accused subsequently decided to kill Agarwal themselves and watched murder films and used ChatGPT for the purpose. They also listened to podcasts on how to avoid detection by police as part of their preparations.

Goyal and her co-accused also researched last year’s Meghalaya honeymoon murder case where Indore resident Raja Raghuvanshi was allegedly killed by his wife, Sonam, during the couple’s honeymoon in the state’s East Khasi Hills district.

Moreover, investigators stated that a fake Instagram account named ‘Mahi’ was created using the photograph of a woman known to the accused in order to “lure” Agarwal to the fort.

Subsequently, messages from the account encouraged the victim to visit the spot on June 18 for a surprise birthday plan for Goyal.

According to the chargesheet, the fake account was part of a plan devised by Ritesh Hange to bring Agarwal to the fort. The account was deleted after the incident.

Further, the charge sheet also revealed that the accused conducted a recce of locations around Lonavala before selecting Lohagad Fort.

According to investigators, Goyal and Chaudhary visited Tiger Point and other locations in search of an isolated spot.

Police said that Lohagad was eventually selected because of a death at the fort in March last year. The accused thought they could make Agarwal’s death appear like an accidental fall at the spot.

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Crime

Stall operator booked after two die of electrocution in Mumbai Lalbaug Ganesh pandal

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Mumbai, Sep 20: An FIR has been filed following a tragic electrocution incident near a Ganesh festival pandal in Mumbai Lalbaug area early on Sunday, which resulted in the deaths of two people, including an 8-year-old girl.

Two people, including an eight-year-old girl, died and four others were seriously injured after receiving electric shocks from a loose wire at a Pepsi-Cola stall near Aastha Hospital on Dattaram Lad Marg in Kalachowki, Mumbai, early Sunday.

Police have registered an FIR against nearby stall operator Kamal Shetty under Sections 106(1) and 125(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, alleging negligence, and have begun an investigation.

According to information from the fire brigade, the incident occurred at around 2 a.m. on Sunday when devotees were present near the pandal.

Two boys and three girls, aged between 8 and 20, reportedly came into contact with the electrical current and suffered burn injuries.

Following the incident, all five victims were rushed to Masina Hospital in Byculla for treatment. Doctors declared the 8-year-old girl Raghni Ghanshyam Yadav dead upon arrival.

Meanwhile, a second victim, a woman who was admitted to Global Hospital in Parel, later succumbed to her injuries. Her identity was yet to be ascertained.

Kiran Akbar Naik, 19, Tanvi Narsh Hande, 19, Sahil Sandip Tare, 19, and Ruhi Singh, 12, were undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in the incident.

Among the injured, one girl was reportedly in critical condition and was shifted to Global Hospital in Parel for further treatment. The remaining three injured victims are undergoing treatment at Masina Hospital and have been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), where their condition remains serious.

According to the FIR filed at Kalachowki Police Station, the wire allegedly came into contact with the girl, Raghni, and others nearby.

The girl was declared dead at Masina Hospital, while another woman, identified as 33-year-old Sujata Thorati, died at Global Hospital. Four injured persons were admitted for treatment.

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Maharashtra

17-year-old among three killed in Mumbai high-end car accident (Lead)

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Mumbai, Sep 20: A 17-year-old was among the three people who were killed in a serious accident involving a high-end car on the Mumbai Coastal Road early on Sunday, officials said.

Another person is critically injured and is currently receiving treatment.

According to information received from the Coastal Road Control Room, the accident occurred at around 5.20 a.m. near Lotus Jetty, opposite Lala College.

The car was travelling from Marine Drive towards Haji Ali when the driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle due to overspeeding.

The speeding vehicle crashed onto the Coastal Road and hit a boundary wall. It fell off the bridge into an area where construction work was underway.

The severity of the accident was evident from the extent of the damage to the car.

The vehicle tore off through the signboard hanging from the bridge. The roof of the car was pushed inwards, the windshield was shattered, and the bonnet was completely destroyed.

Following the accident, all four occupants of the car were rushed to Nair Hospital, where emergency medical teams assessed their condition.

According to an update issued by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Nair Hospital at around 8.40 a.m., three of the occupants were declared brought dead by doctors.

Two of the deceased have been identified as 21-year-old Shanay Gajjal and 17-year-old Dhirya Seth. The identity of the third deceased is yet to be ascertained.

The injured has been identified as 23-year-old Aditya Oswal.

Speaking about the incident to media, Senior Police Inspector Meena Jagtap said: “At around 5:20 a.m., a black BMW was travelling from Marine Drive towards Haji Ali in the northbound direction when it fell from the Coastal Road. There were four people in the car. Three people died, while Aditya is currently at Nair Hospital.”

She said that it is yet to be ascertained whether the occupants of the car were in an intoxicated state when the accident occurred.

Police are investigating the case.

Further details are awaited.

On September 3, several people were booked after Mumbai Police took cognisance of a viral video showing luxury and high-performance cars speeding and racing dangerously inside the Marine Drive-Southbound Coastal Road tunnel.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, three people were critically injured after a speeding off-road SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) hit them near PKC Hospital in Vashi, Navi Mumbai.

The driver fled the spot after the crash instead of helping the injured.

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