The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested four additional suspects—two women and two men—in connection with the firing incident involving Tiger Shroff. The arrested individuals include two women, Beeta and Radha, as well as two men, Kunal and Vijender. All four were presented before the Killa Court today, amid tight security arrangements. The police requested police custody (remand) for the suspects to facilitate further interrogation; the court granted this request and ordered that they be held in police custody until October 26. The two women are accused of supplying weapons to the shooters and assisting the other suspects. The police sought this remand to conduct further investigations, including determining whether the suspects have any links to the Bishnoi gang. So far, a total of 10 suspects have been arrested in this case. Previously, the police had arrested the shooters—Phool Singh, Rehan, and Ritik (alias Roshan)—who carried out the firing; they were apprehended by the Kota Police while traveling by train from Mumbai toward Delhi, acting on information provided by the Mumbai Police. Additionally, the Delhi Special Cell arrested six other suspects from Haryana and Delhi, including women and individuals involved in supplying weapons. The police are continuing their investigation into the matter.

Maharashtra Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Gulabrao Patil on Monday directed the administration to prepare and submit realistic, village-wise action plans for potential water scarcity across all stages in the Nagpur, Amravati, and Konkan divisions by October 25.

Minister Patil also instructed officials to prioritise the completion and operationalisation of drinking water supply projects under the Jal Jeevan Mission that have reached between 75 per cent and 99 per cent progress.

The minister’s directives come after the state government has already announced drought in 304 talukas following scanty rainfall and launched 12 mitigation measures.

Addressing a high-level review meeting, Minister Patil evaluated the water supply status, groundwater levels, and mitigation measures for potential water scarcity in Nagpur, Amravati, and Konkan regions. While noting that there is currently no severe water scarcity in these regions, the Minister emphasised the need for administrative preparedness ahead of upcoming months.

“The administration must remain proactive. Action plans should be framed based on ground-level inspections and extensive consultations with public representatives, sarpanches, gram panchayats, and local officials,” he said.

Minister Patil instructed that pending works such as pipeline laying, pump installation, electrical connections, and transformer setups for projects in their final stages must be completed on a priority basis.

Schemes exceeding 75 per cent completion must have their package details verified and certified promptly to ensure smooth funding releases. He said that a dedicated plan for strengthening local water sources must be created for potential tanker-dependent villages.

Authorities should utilise 2 per cent of the District Planning Committee (DPC) funds primarily for source augmentation. Groundwater recharge works, including well recharging, farm ponds, cement bandharas, cement plugs, continuous contour trenches (CCT), and repairs of older bunds—must be carried out by tapping into District Planning, Mining, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds, he stated.

Minister Patil reiterated that deploying water tankers should only serve as an ultimate last resort. Prior to that, officials must enforce cleaning and disinfection of available public wells. He asked the administration to focus on the rejuvenation of local water sources and efficient water budget planning and disciplined water conservation practices.

He strictly instructed officers to immediately visit villages and take necessary action whenever complaints regarding water scarcity surface or media reports highlight local distress.

To ensure long-term operational success, Minister Patil said that fixed timelines must be established to hand over completed and successfully tested water supply schemes to Zilla Parishads or Gram Panchayats. In cases of delay by local bodies in accepting projects, formal proceedings will follow state policy guidelines.

Zilla Parishads and Gram Panchayats are expected to handle operation, maintenance, and electricity billing effectively. Local officials were advised to coordinate directly with District Collectors and Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) to resolve any persistent transformer or power connection hurdles, he said.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders on Wednesday strongly hit back at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray following his recent assertions regarding a “saffron identity” and “regime change” and said that the public will reject this rhetoric.

While addressing a massive gathering during the annual Dussehra rally at the historic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park in Mumbai, Thackeray openly asserted that they were present to change the regime, arguing that any government failing to serve public interest must be replaced.

Reiterating his party’s claim to the saffron identity, Thackeray said, “Bhagwa (saffron) is our identity; no one can steal our identity.”

Thackeray remarked that a saffron atmosphere is currently present everywhere, and emphasised that this sacred saffron flag must be hoisted not only at the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly but also on the throne of Delhi.

Reacting sharply to these statements, Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, Ram Kadam, speaking to media, stated, “The fear of ‘Operation Tiger 3’ was clearly visible in Thackeray’s speech.”

He claimed that the deep regret of ‘abandoning’ Hindutva was thoroughly evident. “Because of this very regret, Thackeray repeatedly pronounced the word Bhagwa and continuously took the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj throughout his address,” Ram Kadam alleged.

Kadam further questioned what he termed as the “double standards” of Thackeray, claiming that the “nation has witnessed how individuals accused of riots like Umar Khalid, who chant praises for Afzal Guru, are embraced and supported by Thackeray, and how he walks hand in hand with Rahul Gandhi, who repeatedly attacks Sanatan Dharma and links saffron with terrorism.”

Joining the criticism, Shiv Sena spokesperson Shaina NC told media, “Uddhav says that he doesn’t want ‘scarf-wearing’ Hindutva. But in 2019, when he formed an alliance with the Congress, he embraced ‘cap-wearing’ Hindutva.”

“Balasaheb Thackeray always urged people to say with pride that they are Hindus, whereas Uddhav Thackeray now advises people to say with pride that they are for regime change. The only difference is that one represents real Hindutva while the other stands for fake secularism,” she claimed.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member, Milind Deora, acknowledged that every citizen and every Opposition party possesses the democratic and constitutional right to protest; however, he strongly objected to the language used by Thackeray to compare situations with countries like France, Albania, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

“Every citizen and every Opposition party has the right to contest elections against the government and to make statements against the government. This is their constitutional, democratic right. However, the language used to compare things with France, Albania, Bangladesh and Nepal is clearly an attempt to spread anarchy and violence,” Deora alleged.

“The people of India will never accept this. If they want to bring about the so-called change, do it through elections, by earning people’s vote; not like this,” he told media.