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Maharashtra

Two years of MVA: No downfall, Humpty-Dumpty sits firmly on the wall

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5 years ago

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 Last week, Shiv Sena MP, the outspoken Sanjay Raut contemptuously dismissed yet another statement by Bharatiya Janata Party state President Chandrakant Patil predicting the downfall of the 2-year-old Maha Vikas Aghadi government, saying he has said it “at least 28 times before.”

Another senior Sena leader, Dr Raghunath Kuchik – accorded MoS status – said all the BJP leaders are crying over spilt milk, how “the Sena betrayed BJP” at least five times daily – or over 3,500 times in the past two years after the MVA government with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took office on November 28, 2019.

“This must be some sort of a world-record… In May 1996, the late PM Atal Behari Vajpayee said – in a dignified manner – how he felt disappointed only once and gave up office, but never uttered it again,” Kuchik pointed out.

A couple of days ago, when Union MSME Minister Narayan Rane acted soothsayer claiming the BJP will form the government in March, the usually stern Nationalist Congress Party state President and Minister Jayant Patil broke into a grin and asked why “such a long time-limit”.

Congress state President Nana Patole reacted sarcastically saying how “the BJP’s never-ending forecasts of the MVA fall are perpetually proving wrong.”

As the MVA celebrates its second anniversary on November 28 it is conscious of the hawkish Opposition counting the days, weeks or months for the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government’s collapse.

For, the Opposition is not limited to the belligerent BJP in the state and Centre alone — there’s a motley collection of various central agencies, several Bollywood personalities, some industrialists, a few social influencers and even the friendly neighbourhood Raj Bhavan with which there have been infrequent ‘letter wars’ – not exactly the soulful ingredients for a smooth sail!

Barely had the MVA emerged unscathed from the ghost of the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput on its first birthday last November (2020), it was haunted by others in the form of the abandoned SUV with 20 gelatin sticks and a threat note near the home of industrialist Mukesh Ambani in February, followed by the murder of the vehicle owner Mansukh Hiran.

This kicked off a series of political developments that rocked the 3-party government, the unceremonious transfer of the then Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, his letter bomb hurling allegations of extortion against the then home minister Anil Deshmukh, who was forced to quit and was nabbed by the Enforcement Directorate, and now Singh himself facing corruption charges.

Besides Deshmukh, minister Sanjay Rathod forfeited his post. At least another half-a-dozen Sena-NCP ministers or senior leaders like Hasan Mushrif, Anil Parab, Eknath Khadse, MP Bhavana Gawli, ex-MP Anandrao Adsul, Sanjay Raut’s kin and the family of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar are under the scanner of the central agencies, plus a dozen more ‘potential’ future targets, as BJP leaders watch gleefully.

Despite the “betrayal, downfall” cacophony all around, Thackeray continued to make waves with his handling of the Covid-19 situation, the state earned laurels from the Centre and abroad, it continued to attract investments and — despite occasional hiccups – the 3-partners maintained camaraderie.

At one point, a bemused Thackeray shot back at the BJP, saying “the MVA will not only complete five years, but is here to stay for 25 years”.

NCP’s Malik further rattled the Opposition saying that many of the erstwhile defectors from the Sena-NCP-Congress to the BJP would make a ‘ghar-wapsi’ and return to the parental fold soon.

After the Narcotics Control Bureau’s raids on the Cordelia cruise ship on October 2, Malik became the face of the MVA’s blitzkrieg against the central agencies with his sting(ing) operations against the NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.

As the luxury ship swoop practically lost credibility, Wankhede came under pressure with Malik’s exposes on his alleged fake caste certificate and other fraudulent documents, and the Bombay High Court also frowning at the raids and the NCB’s intentions. It also said the Minister’s charges were not ‘totally false’.

The MVA struggles on other fronts too, like the pending GST dues from the Centre, the elusive promised aid for natural calamities that befell the state in the past two years, the Kanjurmarg land for the Mumbai Metro car shed.

After straddling multiple crises over the past 24 months, another Big Test is coming up in early 2022 for both the MVA and the BJP — the elections to some big civic bodies like Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Aurangabad, Solapur, Amravati and Nagpur.

Though the Sena-NCP are firm on a pre-poll alliance, the Congress state and Mumbai leaders keep thumping chests like Tarzan and sing the ‘Ekla Chalo’ (Go Alone) tune, dismaying the other two allies but sounding sweet music to the BJP.

Senior ruling alliance leaders are aware that these are rough times calling for tough decisions to prevent a mass exodus or even a rebellion in their ranks — as witnessed recently in Panvel with many Congressmen joining the NCP — particularly with the BJP fox lurking menacingly around the MVA flock.

Perturbed by its unsuccessful toppling games, the BJP is vying for big wins in the civic polls to re-sharpen its sword to eject what it calls the ‘Maha Vinaash Aghadi’ regime, though privately many leaders admit it’s a futile exercise.

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Maharashtra

Andheri: Former Company Driver Hatches Income Tax Raid Conspiracy; All 10 Gang Members Arrested for Demanding ₹1 Crore Weekly by Posing as Officials

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1 day ago

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September 10, 2026

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Mumbai: Police has unmasked a fake officer and gang who had raided an Income Tax office in Andheri, Mumbai, in the style of the movie Special 26, held the owner and employees hostage, snatched their mobile phones and held the staff hostage. According to the Income Tax and Crime Branch officials, the police have exposed the gang who had conducted a fake raid and demanded a salary of Rs 1 crore and have also claimed to have arrested the absconding accused. According to the brief details of the said case, there was a dispute between the complainant, Rajkumar Kandasamy, aged 49, who was previously employed as a driver by Santosh Uday Khopatkar and the complainant. Due to this, the complainant fired Santosh Khopatkar from his job without paying him 06 months’ salary. Angered by this, Santosh Uday Khopatkar, using the information he had about the complainant, along with 06 men and 3 women acquaintances, formed a criminal conspiracy and falsely claimed to be government officers and employees of the Income Tax and Crime Branch Department and illegally entered the office owned by the complainant. He also abducted the complainant and his wife by showing fake government identity cards and snatched the mobile phones of the complainant, his wife and 10 other employees of the office and illegally prevented them from leaving the office and abused them by threatening them with legal action by the Income Tax Department. Also, a sum of Rs. 1 crore was sought to avert the action. Therefore, the complainant filed a legal complaint against the above-mentioned unknown persons and after noting their detailed statement, a case was registered under Sections 61(2), 204, 205, 233, 140(2), 127(1), 351(2), 308(4) of the Indian Penal Code, 2023.

The accused in the said case have been arrested on the basis of technical investigation. The arrested accused are 1) Santosh Uday Khopatkar, aged 37 years, 2) Vinay Ramesh More, aged 37 years, 3) Prem Kisan Sabnani, aged 50 years, 4) Pragya Harish Main, aged 27 years, 5) Reshma Shamrao Waring, aged 41 years, 6) Shabnia Hafeez Sheikh, aged 48 years. During the interrogation of the said arrested accused, it was found that accused Nos. 7 and 8 out of the said accused are working in the Income Tax Department as Income Tax Inspector and Tax Assistant respectively and the said accused along with accused Nos. 02 to 06 and accused Nos. 09 and 10 went to the office of the complainant and on getting information about their involvement in the said criminal conspiracy, the said accused were searched and arrested in the present case on 10th September. The arrested accused include 7) Suresh Mahavir Prasad Mishra, aged 57 years (Income Tax Inspector)8) Sunil Manohar Gore, age 59 years (Tax Assistant)9) Jatu alias Jitendra Namdev More, age 52 years 10) Ashok Vithoba Shinde, age 57 years are involved. This operation has been carried out by DCP Datta Nalawade under the leadership of Mumbai Police Commissioner Devin Bharti and the accused have been arrested and the gang has been exposed. DCP Datta Nalawade said that earlier also 6 accused were arrested in the case but the Income Tax Inspector and Assistant were also involved in it after which today more absconding accused have been arrested and the entire gang has been cracked down on.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: Criminal mobile thief arrested, mystery of three thefts solved

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1 day ago

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September 10, 2026

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Mumbai: Police has claimed to have recovered 09 mobile phones worth Rs 1,48,000/- from a criminal accused after uncovering 03 cases of mobile theft. On the complaint of the complainant on September 8, a case was registered at Park Site Police Station under Section 305(a) of the IPC 2023 for theft of mobile phones by entering a house. The police registered the said case and started investigation. Mumbai Police’s Nitin Jhade and his team traced the accused wanted in the case based on CCTV footage of the crime scene and its premises and technical information and arrested the accused Feroz Mohammad Shakeel Sheikh alias Choha, age 25, resident of Ambika Nagar Chal, Behind Ajwa Hotel, Upper Depot Para, Park Site, Vikhroli (West), Mumbai 79, who was on police record within 05 hours and registered a case under Section 305(a) BNS Crime No. 2 879/2026 Section 305(a) BNS
3) Crime No. 880/2026 Section 305(a) BNS
3) 03 cases were revealed. Similarly, 09 mobiles worth Rs. 1,48,000/- were recovered from the said accused after expert interrogation.

*The arrested accused Feroz Mohammad Shakeel Sheikh alias Choha, aged 25, has a total of 20 cases of theft, robbery, illegal possession of weapons registered in K-Park Site, Ghatkopar, Pant Nagar and Nirmal Nagar police stations.

The said operation was carried out under the guidance of Devin Bharti, Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, Manoj Sharma, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Dhananjay Kulkarni, Additional Commissioner of Police, Eastern Regional Department, Chembur, Mumbai, Shri Abhay Singh Deshmukh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, East, Senior Police Inspector in-charge, Park Site Police Station, Mumbai, Ashok Lange, Assistant Police Inspector Nitin Jhade, Police Sub-Inspector Akshay Wagh, Police Havildar Vishal Goare, Police Havildar Rahul Navale, Police Constable Manoj Sarwade, Police Constable Rohidas Bhosare, Police Constable Deepak Tade.

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Crime

Pune group seeks action against trolls targeting woman who complained against influencer Santosh Pandit

Published

2 days ago

on

September 10, 2026

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Pune, Sep 10: A group of people have approached the Pune Police seeking action against social media users who allegedly posted derogatory and objectionable comments targeting a woman who had lodged a complaint against social media influencer Santosh Pandit, police said on Thursday.

Pandit has been accused of making allegedly derogatory remarks against Maharashtra Minister Chandrakant Patil and Pune Municipal Corporation corporator Mitali Kuldeep Salvekar.

Following a complaint filed by Sarika Kamble, who works with the Pune Municipal Corporation, a case was registered against Pandit at the Kothrud police station.

The issue took a further turn after members of the Bhau Foundation approached the Kothrud police station on Monday, seeking action against social media users who allegedly targeted Kamble after she filed the complaint against the influencer.

The organisation alleged that Kamble became the target of derogatory remarks and abusive comments on social media simply because she approached the police over remarks that she considered offensive and objectionable.

Tanisha Patil of Bhau Foundation condemned the derogatory and objectionable comments made against Kamble through social media and sought strict action against the trolls.

“We condemn the manner in which derogatory comments have been made through social media. Police should take strict action against such trolls. We will also lodge a complaint with Meta in this regard,” Patil said.

The organisation said that individuals should not be subjected to online abuse or personal attacks for approaching law enforcement authorities and raising concerns over remarks they find offensive. It urged the police to take appropriate action against the social media users involved in the alleged online harassment of Kamble.

The Bhau Foundation said it would also pursue the matter with Meta, the parent company of social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram, seeking action over the allegedly objectionable content targeting Kamble.

Santosh Pandit was arrested from his residence in Pune on September 3 in connection with a case of posting obscene and sexually suggestive content targeting Minister Patil and corporator Mitali Kuldeep Salvekar.

According to the complaint, Pandit allegedly uploaded objectionable posts and videos on his YouTube account, ‘@SantoshPandit6278’, targeting Chandrakant Patil and Mitali Salvekar.

Officials said that legal proceedings are underway, and further details are awaited.

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