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‘You Marathis Are Beggars’: MTDC Employee Akhilesh Shukla Calls Goons To Attack Neighbours Over Minor Dispute In Kalyan’s Yogidham; Fadnavis Gets Him Suspended 

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Thane: A shocking incident has come to light from the upscale Ajmera Heights society in Kalyan’s Yogidham area, where Akhilesh Shukla, an account manager at MTDC, allegedly called goons to attack a family over a minor dispute. The violent confrontation left three individuals injured, with one currently receiving treatment at Mumbai’s Sion Hospital.

Abhijit Deshmukh, a resident of Ajmera Heights society sustained severe injuries in the assault, including multiple wounds requiring 10 to 12 stitches and was rushed to Sion Hospital for treatment. Reports suggested that the attackers also abused and assaulted other residents, including women, who tried to intervene. Videos of the heated altercation have gone viral on the internet.

Details On The Incident

The conflict began when Shukla’s wife, Geeta, performed daily worship rituals outside their house, lighting incense sticks. The smoke from these sticks reportedly drifted into the home of their neighbours, Varsha and Vijay Kalvikatte, causing health issues for their three-year-old child and elderly mother, both of whom suffer from breathing problems, as reported by Pune Pulse. The situation led to frequent arguments between Geeta and Varsha.

During one such argument, nearby residents Abhijit Deshmukh and his brother, Dheeraj, stepped in to mediate and resolve the issue. However, their efforts enraged Shukla, who allegedly retaliated by summoning 10 to 15 men. These men, armed with iron rods, brutally attacked the Deshmukh brothers.

Attackers Called Marathi ‘Beggars’

Vijay Kalvikatte, a resident of the same society, recounted the horrifying ordeal to the media. “I was in my house when I saw Shukla pointing out Abhijit’s room to a group of men. They picked up a bicycle and started banging it against his door. When I went to check, seven to eight men began beating Abhijit with an iron rod. I was also attacked and pushed aside. Women who tried to intervene were beaten too. The attackers hurled abuses at Marathi people, calling them beggars and fish eaters,” he said.

Shukla, reportedly a controversial figure in the society, has been accused of troubling several Marathi residents. In a previous incident, he allegedly assaulted a Marathi family, saying, “You Marathi people are dirty; you smell. You are fish eaters.” His neighbours also alleged that he misused his government job powers and threatened them by showing off his influence at the CMO. Gupta also installed a beacon on his personal car’s dashboard, said his neighbours.

Shukla’s neighbours also alleged that he had his goons stationed outside the police station to stop them from filing an FIR. More details on the matter are awaited.

Akhilesh Shukla suspended

Taking cognisance of the matter, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis announced in the Maharashtra assembly that Akhilesh Shukla has been suspended from his service and an FIR has been registered against him and other accused. Fadnavis even showed a copy of the FIR filed against Shukla.

“Let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind. Mumbai and Maharashtra belonged to Mumbai, it still does and it will,” said Fadnavis amid the applause from the members of the house.

In an apparent reference to unfied Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis said it was important to know who was responsible for Marathi population migrating out of Mumbai after the construction boom in last few decades. Fadnavis did not name anyone.

MNS Demands Legal Action Against Shukla

Ulhas Bhoir, the Kalyan district president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, has warned that legal action should be taken against a man named Shukla, who abused and beat Marathi people in a building in Kalyan, Thane district, over a minor dispute, otherwise, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will take to the streets.

“The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will straighten out Shukla, who abused a Marathi person in Maharashtra, but the Marathi people should also wake up now and from now on, just as the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena stands behind the Marathi people, the Marathi people should also stand behind the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena,” said Bhoir.

Crime

After Jyoti Malhotra’s arrest, another YouTuber held in Punjab for espionage

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Chandigarh, June 4: After YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who was arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan, Punjab Police on Wednesday claimed to have unearthed a critical espionage network linked to another YouTuber, Jasbir Singh, a resident of Rupnagar.

Jasbir Singh, who operates a YouTube channel called ‘JaanMahal’, has been found associated with Pakistani intelligence operative Shakir, alias Jutt Randhawa, part of a terror-backed espionage network.

He also maintained close contact with Haryana-based Jyoti Malhotra and Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, a Pakistani national and expelled Pakistan High Commission official, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav informed on X.

Investigations have revealed that Jasbir attended the Pakistan National Day event in Delhi on Danish’s invitation, where he met Pakistani army officials and bloggers.

He travelled to Pakistan on three occasions (2020, 2021, 2024), and his electronic devices contained multiple Pakistan-based numbers, now under detailed forensic scrutiny, said the DGP.

After Jyoti Malhotra’s arrest, Jasbir attempted to erase all traces of his communications with these Pakistani intelligence operatives to avoid detection.

A first information report (FIR) has been registered in Mohali, near here. The DGP added that investigations are underway to dismantle the broader espionage-terror network and identify all collaborators.

A day earlier, Counter-Intelligence Punjab, in a joint operation with Tarn Taran police, had arrested a man linked to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for sharing sensitive information concerning army movements during Operation Sindoor.

The accused was identified as Gagandeep Singh, alias Gagan, a resident of Tarn Taran town.

DGP Yadav had said preliminary investigation has revealed that Gagandeep Singh was in direct contact with Pakistan-based Khalistani supporter Gopal Singh Chawla for past five years, through whom he was introduced to Pakistani intelligence operatives.

Investigations also revealed that the accused had been sharing classified information, including troop deployments, strategic locations, and army movements during Operation Sindoor, posing a serious threat to national security.

The DGP had said police teams have recovered two mobile devices from the possession of the accused, containing sensitive intelligence that he shared with the Pakistani intelligence operatives, as well as the details of over 20 ISI contacts.

The accused also received payments from operatives via Indian channels.

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Crime

WBSSC’s notification for fresh teachers’ recruitment challenged at Calcutta HC

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Kolkata, June 3: The notification issued by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) to fill vacant posts of teachers in state-run schools has been challenged at the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday.

The single-judge vacation bench of Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury admitted the petition. The matter is likely to come up for a hearing at his bench on June 5.

The petitioner claimed that certain points in the notification, especially those as regards to changed weightage criteria in the distribution of total marks in the recruitment process, violated the Supreme Court’s directives on fresh recruitments.

The main ground on which the notification was challenged was that the weightage criteria in the distribution of total marks had changed from those in 2016.

As per the new notification issued last week, the written examination in the fresh recruitment process will carry 60 marks, as against 55 for the 2016 panel.

Secondly, the weightage criterion for educational qualification in the fresh recruitment process is just 10 as against 35 for the 2016 panel.

Most importantly, two new weightage criteria, each carrying 10 marks, “past teaching experience” and “lecture demonstration”, have been introduced.

Soon after the notification was issued, several legal minds apprehended that the notification may face legal hurdles because of the changes in weightage criteria in total marks distribution.

Legal minds felt that while two new weightage criteria were introduced to give an advantage to the teachers from the 2016 panel who lost their jobs. They opined that the changed criteria would be disadvantageous for fresher candidates.

Bringing about changes in the weightage criteria was grossly illegal since the same weightage criteria, which applied to the 2016 panel, should also be there in the fresh recruitment process, they said.

Now their apprehensions have come true after a petition challenging the notification was filed at the Calcutta High Court, exactly on the points highlighted.

On April 3 this year, the Supreme Court’s division bench of erstwhile Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar upheld a previous order by the Calcutta High Court’s division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi cancelling 25,753 school jobs in West Bengal.

The Apex Court also accepted the observation of the Calcutta High Court that the entire panel of 25,753 candidates had to be cancelled because of the failure of the state government and the commission to segregate the “untainted” candidates from the “tainted” ones.

The state government and West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) had already filed review petitions at the Apex Court on this issue.

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Crime

Mass transfers in TN prison department spark resentment among personnel

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Chennai, June 3: A major reshuffle in the Tamil Nadu Prison Department has triggered widespread resentment among prison staff, who allege that the transfers were arbitrary and in violation of established government norms.

Several affected personnel are now considering legal action.

On May 27, DIG of Prisons Maheswar Dayal issued a sweeping order transferring 176 chief head warders across the state. The order includes long-distance reassignments, such as moving staff from Palayamkottai Central Prison to Vellore, nearly 600 kilometres apart, and vice versa.

Similar transfers were recorded from sub-jails in Nagapattinam and Ooty to Coimbatore and Palayamkottai, covering distances between 350 and 450 kilometres.

The move is part of a larger reshuffle underway over the past two months, involving assistant jailers, warders, and head warders.

While those posted over 400 kilometres away have been granted eight days to report for duty, others must report within six days.

Adding to the pressure, many have been verbally instructed to vacate their official quarters immediately.

A prison official based in Coimbatore expressed anguish: “My two children are in high school, and I’ve already paid their annual fees. How can I relocate my family overnight?”

Since April, nearly 250 personnel have been transferred, and insiders warn the move could damage morale and disrupt daily operations.

“This scale of reshuffling without consultation or consideration is unprecedented and could seriously impact the smooth functioning of prison administration,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.

“Earlier, transfers were done through counselling and usually within a 60-100 km radius, keeping families in mind,” an officer said.

According to government rules, transfers are permitted once every three years.

A key government order issued by the Personnel and Administrative Reforms (Personnel M) Department in 1977 mandates that, when both spouses are in government service, efforts must be made to post them in the same station to support family welfare and children’s education. Already, one assistant jailer has secured a stay order from the court, while many others are reportedly preparing to file petitions challenging the transfer orders.

“If someone is facing proven corruption charges, a transfer — even to distant locations — is understandable. But these general transfers should factor in personal circumstances,” said a staffer from the southern zone.

In response, a senior prison department official defended the move, stating that many of the transferred employees had served in the same facility for over five years.

“The decision was made to break long-standing networks and eliminate potential corruption rings within prisons and sub-jails,” the official said, without offering further details.

As dissatisfaction continues to rise among the affected staff, legal battles and administrative scrutiny appear inevitable.

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