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TOI : PUNE: A city couple’s joy over showing the murder, on March 22, of a transporter from Rahuri as accidental death was short-lived as the post-mortem report on Wednesday revealed that the victim was strangulated.

The Sahakarnagar police have registered a murder case and have launched a hunt for the couple — Gokul and Sushma Jagdale of Dhankawadi.

According to the police, Mehboob Bashir Attar (38) knew Sushma since childhood as their families were close friends in Rahuri. As they grew up, Attar and Sushma fell in love. However, Sushma got married to Gokul and moved to Dhankawadi. Attar also got married and settled in Rahuri. He has two daughters and a son, while Sushma has a son.

Being into the truck transport business, Attar used to visit Pune frequently. He started visiting Sushma at her home at Dhankawadi and allegedly had an illicit relationship with her. Attar bought an Indica car and employed Sushma’s husband as driver.

The car was hired by a BPO. Gokul was allowed to keep the rent of the car every month. However, things took an ugly turn in February, when Attar paid a limited amount to Gokul as salary and took away the remaining money, the police said.

Furious over this, the couple allegedly hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Attar. On the evening of March 21, when Attar came to Pune and went to Sushma’s home, he was allegedly attacked with some weapon and strangled.

The couple then allegedly took Attar’s body in the Indica car to Rahuri. There, they called up his brother-in-law, saying that the deceased was overdrunk and needed medication. Little realising that Attar was already dead, his relative rushed the body to the Rahuri municipal council’s hospital, where he was declared dead.

The Rahuri police then, based on Sushma’s statement, filed a…More

TOI : PUNE: Faulty ejection systems are one of the major reasons for loss of highly trained fighter pilots during contingencies. Last year itself, the Indian Air Force (IAF) lost seven pilots in crashes.

In an attempt to find a solution to the problem, Pune-based Armaments Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) has developed a pilot ejection system for use in the light combat aircraft (LCA), world’s smallest, light-weight, multi-role combat aircraft which will be inducted into the IAF soon. The ejection mechanism relies on a canopy severing system and a power cartridge system for smooth ejection of the pilot, both on air and on ground.

Speaking to TOI, ARDE director Surendra Kumar said, “The severing system weakens and cuts the canopy. The rocket cartridge fitted to the pilot’s seat is fired to ease the lever allowing the pilot to fly out vertically while the canopy is flung open.”

“The system can also be operated externally by ground-based crew. This has potential to help save precious life if the pilot becomes unconscious,” said Kumar.

The system will also bring down the expenditure by half, since all the systems currently in use are imported from Russia and the US.

According to Kumar, more than a year of testing and field trials were carried out before the system was declared fool-proof. It took ARDE three years to prepare the design. The final trial run was conducted recently using pilot seats manufactured by the British firm Martin-Baker. Kumar added that the system could be modified for use in any type of fighter aircraft.

The ejection system is only the second such attempt by India after the one developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore, for use in the advanced jet trainers.

A total of 10 IAF aircraft crashed in 2007, three Kirans, two MiG-21s and Mirage-2000s, one…More

TOI : PUNE: The unconquerable king of Baramati has had enough of Lok Sabha elections. After winning six terms with thumping margins from his carefully-nurtured constituency since 1984, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar will not contest the LS polls any more. But the Maratha strongman made it clear that he would continue being in national politics and would take the Rajya Sabha route to Parliament.

Speaking to reporters at Roti, 35 km from Baramati, on Thursday, the NCP chief said: “I am thankful to my voters who have elected me for successive terms with massive margins. But now I feel I should not go to them again asking for votes for myself. I have reached the age where I should opt for the Rajya Sabha and pave the way for the younger generation.”

Asked if this meant that he would field his daughter, Supriya Sule, from Baramati, Pawar said, “It is for the party to decide.”

And asked about his plans for the Rajya Sabha, he said no one would grudge him the “backdoor entry” into Parliament.

Speaking about the defeat of Congress candidate Sudhakar Gangane in the recent legislative council polls, Pawar came out in support of chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, albeit indirectly, by saying that elements in the Congress might have engineered the defeat in a bid to embarrass the chief minister.

Deshmukh suffered a major setback on Wednesday after his protégé, Gangane, failed to win a seat in the council. Gangane was one of three Congress nominees in the election held to fill nine legislative council seats.

“When I was chief minister of the state, an official Congress candidate was deliberately defeated and the high command was told that I had lost control in the state. Something similar might have transpired in Deshmukh’s case,” Pawar said.

Asked why his party…More

TOI : PUNE: The odd impersonator who writes exam papers either out of friendship or for a small consideration is ferreted out every now and then during the SSC and HSC exams. But, on Wednesday, the city crime branch brought to book a five-member gang who had actually made a business out of impersonation during exams!

The gang would deploy dummy candidates, mostly students pursuing their graduation, and charge the SSC or HSC candidate as much as Rs 3,500 per paper.

Three members of the gang - Mehboob Kashinath Kodle (39) of Aundh road, Vishal Sunil Barathe (25) and Feroze Abul Shaikh, both from Khadki bazaar - have been arrested. The other two - Vinod Ranpise and Arun More - are on the run.

Speaking to reporters, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Anil Kumbhare said Kodle, who is the kingpin, would himself appear as an impersonator for exams in the past. “Now, his role is to find dummy candidates and customers,” he added.

Police inspector Gopal Thube received a tip-off that the gang had been operating from Khadki Bazaar since the last four years. A sub-inspector, who was sent as a decoy, purchased a fake hall-ticket from Kodle after paying Rs 3,500. The police then swooped down on the gang and arrested three of them.

The suspects confessed to their role in providing dummy candidates to over 200 students till date. “When the remaining two members of the gang are arrested, the number of cases that may come to light is likely to be around 500,” Kumbhare said.

Kodle used to charge Rs 3,500 per paper, which included Rs 1,000 for preparing the fake hall ticket. “He used to give Rs 800-1,000 to the dummy candidate who wrote the paper. The fake hall tickets were prepared by Shaikh, who is an employee of Wipro,” Kumbhare…More