Mumbai: Police Crime Branch has ruled out any Maoist or terrorist connection in the case involving an Agniveer from Telangana and his brother, who stole an INSAS rifle and two magazines containing 40 live rounds from a naval sentry at Colaba’s New Navy Nagar last month.

The accused, Agniveer Rakesh Dubbula, 22, and his brother Umesh Dubbula, 25, were arrested from their native village, Elakapalli, in Telangana’s Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district. Police recovered the stolen rifle and ammunition from them.

According to officials, the theft was motivated by personal reasons, not terrorism. The brothers allegedly wanted the weapon for self-protection in their Maoist-affected village and to extort money from local residents. A chargesheet is expected to be filed soon.

Investigations revealed that Rakesh, who joined the Indian Navy in 2023, was posted at Mumbai before being transferred to Kochi. His brother Umesh, who runs a ration shop in Adilabad, is suspected to have indirect Maoist links through illicit liquor trade and had persuaded Rakesh to steal the weapon.

On September 6, Rakesh tricked sentry Alok Singh into handing over duty, then threw the rifle and magazines over the compound wall to his brother. They fled to Telangana via Lokmanya Tilak Terminus.

Although terror and Maoist links were ruled out, Alok Singh remains under investigation and removed from key duties. The Navy conducted security audits and drills at New Navy Nagar to strengthen safeguards.

Three people were arrested by Malad Police for allegedly stealing ATM cards from unsuspecting bank customers. The accused discreetly noted down PINs and later withdrew money from victims’ accounts, targeting ATMs in Andheri, Bandra, Kandivali, Borivali, Chembur, and Malad this month alone.

The latest case was reported on October 8 in Malad. A 55-year-old man’s ATM card got stuck while withdrawing cash. The accused helped retrieve the card while secretly noting his PIN, later stealing the card and fraudulently withdrawing Rs 40,000 from his account.

After the complaint, a team led by Senior Inspector Dushyant Chavan analyzed CCTV footage and traced the suspects. Monitoring their movements, police followed a vehicle to Chembur and identified its owner, who admitted hiring the car to the three accused.

The arrested individuals are Mohammad Aarif Khan, 47, a chauffeur; Abdul Haqiq Khan, 34, a truck driver; and Danish Khan, 23, a labourer. Abdul Haqiq and Danish have prior criminal records in Uttar Pradesh.

Mumbai: Rapid development in Mumbai has brought with it several challenges, most notably air pollution caused by dust and emissions from construction activities. To address this growing concern, the BMC has urged developers to adopt effective mitigation measures at construction sites. This call to action was made during a workshop on “Air Pollution Mitigation at Construction Sites,” held on Monday at the new administrative building of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) located in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC).

The workshop was jointly organised by BMC and WRI India, with support from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), India Alliance for Clean Construction (IACC), National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), CREDAI-MCHI, and the Practice Engineers, Architects and Town Planners Association (PETA). Key attendees included Deputy Commissioner (Environment) Avinash Kate, Executive Engineers Varsha Athalye and Suhas Nemaane, WRI India’s Sandeep Narang, Sensor Specialist Sandeep Madhwal, CREDAI-MCHI CEO Keval Valambhia, NAREDCO Joint Secretary Vishal Thakkar, and PETA President Sandeep Isore.

During the workshop, Kate emphasised the urgent need for strict air pollution control measures at Mumbai’s construction sites amid rapid infrastructure growth. He urged all stakeholders—developers, contractors, engineers, and authorities to closely follow BMC guidelines and work together to ensure a healthy environment for both workers and residents.

Mumbai’s air quality typically deteriorates between October and March due to weather conditions, increased construction activity, road dust, and vehicle emissions. To address this, the BMC has mandated all construction sites to follow a 28-point guideline focused on reducing air pollution.

Additionally, the BMC’s Environment Department, which currently enforces Solid Waste Management (SWM) by-laws, is finalising a stricter by-law with higher penalties set to be enforced from November. This will empower the department to directly penalise construction sites violating dust control norms.