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TOI : PUNE: Notorious criminal Chetan Dodke was murdered over a minor dispute with a family in Yerawada on Monday night.

According to the police, it all began at the Mahatma Gandhi garden, where Dodke went with his nephew on Monday evening. He got into a brawl with Balaji alias Anant Ashok Sable over horse-riding. Soon after the tiff, Dodke found his gold rings worth Rs 12,000 missing.

Dodke’s sister Bhageshree Aagte went to Sable’s sister Sunita and mother Mangal to enquire about the rings, but she was allegedly thrashed by the two. Not content with this, Sable and his four friends called Dodke near the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar College around 11 pm, the police said.

The brother of the deceased, Vikas Dodke, has stated in his complaint that Sable and his friends started speaking to Dodke in sweet language at the college, but suddenly started beating him up. Sunita and Mangal also came to the spot and held the former. Sable then allegedly attacked Dodke with sharp weapons on his chest.

Balaji Sabale (19), Ganesh Sathe (25), Vikas Chauhan (18), Sunita Sable (26) and Mangal Sable (37) were arrested on charges of rioting and murder, while a minor has been detained. Sable, meanwhile, filed a cross-complaint against the deceased saying that they were defending themselves because Dodke attacked them first. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: The civic administration’s proposal to charge Rs 2 for two-wheeler parking on road sides and hike
the parking fee for four-wheelers from Rs 5 to Rs 10 has been approved by the Pune Municipal Corporation’s standing committee.

The proposal will now come before PMC general body for final approval.

The move has been made in view of increasing congestion due to road-side parking by motorists. The proposal states that the citizens usually refuse to park their vehicles in parking lots and park them on roads as per their convenience. This creates severe traffic congestion.

While fees will be charged from vehicles parked on all the roads, the proposal does not suggest a hike in the fees for parking at the PMC-run parking lots.

Meanwhile, the standing committee approved another proposal to develop nine parking lots in the city in view of the forthcoming Commonwealth Youth Games.

They will be constructed at a cost of Rs 7.67 crore at Revenue colony, PMC building, Ramwadi Octroi depot, Old Bopodi depot, Wadgaon Budruk, Parvati plot number 581, Alka talkies, Kothrud PMT depot and J.M. road. A multi-storey parking lot will also be developed at Baner survey number 105 at the cost of Rs 3.30 crore. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Stamp scam kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi is disappointed because he has been wrongly projected in the film, Mudrank The Stamp , his lawyers said here on Tuesday.

The movie will definitely have an impact on the trials being conducted against Telgi in various courts, his lawyers Milind Pawar and Vidyadhar Koshe said. “I will object to the release of the film when the case comes up for hearing before the civil court on Wednesday,” Koshe added.

As per the civil court order, the film was screened inside the Yerawada central jail in the presence of Telgi, Pawar and Koshe. The producer and director of the film and jail officials were also present.

The jail officials had made special arrangements for telecasting the film in the video conferencing hall which was set up for conducting the trial against Telgi and others. The two-and-a-half hour film was shown on a 35 mm screen and the show began at 3.30 pm.

The film is based on the investigations conducted by various agencies in the fake stamps case registered with the Bund Garden police station in 2002.

Speaking to TOI after viewing the film, Pawar said it is a real life story of Telgi because it gives a detailed description of all his activities as to how he had started the scam until he was arrested by the Karnataka police.

Pawar said the producer and director has reproduced the chargesheets while making the film, even though the trial was pending against several suspects before the special court here.

According to the defence counsel, the only difference in the film was that the names of the actors were changed. For instance, the actor who played Telgi’s role is named Velgi, former police commissioner R.S. Sharma is Mangal Sharma while former legislator Anil Gote is Suresh…More

TOI : PUNE: Two people were injured after a crane hit an ST bus on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, which resulted in a traffic jam for almost two hours on Tuesday evening. The bus driver was among the injured.

The accident happened at km 18, which comes under the Khopoli police station. The police said the crane, heading for Mumbai, crossed the divider and rammed into the bus in the Pune corridor around 7.30 pm. A four-wheeler behind the ST bus was also caught in the accident.

The bus was carrying 50 passengers. The injured were not identified at the time of going to Press.

Traffic was diverted from old highway. Barely two days ago, an accient on the expressway resulted in a jam for hours. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: When Dr Abhijit Joshi was returning home from his early-morning gym routine on Tuesday morning, he hadn’t the faintest idea that his medical skills would be put to the test so early in the day.

A little ahead of SP College, Joshi saw some people crowded around two buses one a PMPML bus and the other a private Volvo that had collided head-on an hour earlier.

“Since it was an accident, I enquired if anyone was injured and needed medical help,” said Joshi, who resides at Khadakmalaali on Tilak road. “I was told that the PMPML bus-driver’s right leg had got stuck in the entangled metal mass and that it was not possible to extricate him.”

The driver, Sanjay Khandage (35), was on the Swargate-Gokhalenagar route when the Volvo, which was coming from the wrong direction, hit the PMPML bus head-on near Girija juice centre. Khandage was trapped in his seat for almost an hour till Joshi came on the scene.

Joshi called up his uncle’s hospital which is located nearby. “Within a few minutes, I had all the medical paraphernalia by my side. When I got into the cabin, I found the driver trapped and stuck to his seat. He had multiple lacerations on his head and ears. His right leg had an open fracture with bones jutting out,” said Joshi.

The doctor felt the driver’s pulse and found it was feeble because of hypo-volumic shock. “I tried to stabilise him by giving him pain-killer injections and even started an intravenous line, which helped raise his sinking blood pressure,” said Joshi.

While Joshi was busy administering essential medical help to the driver, the fire department personnel were busy disengaging the buses with the help of a crane. Retired chief fire officer L.N. Raut, who was on his morning walk, had summoned…More

TOI : PUNE: Ten percent of the 70 government medical officers facing summary dismissal from services for prolonged absence without leave from the workplace, are from Pune.

This came to light when the directorate of health services served them a notice to furnish adequate reasons for absence in the next seven days or face termination.

Surprisingly, an anesthetist from Yerawada Mental Hospital has been absent from the workplace since February 1996.

When contacted, Prakash Doke, director of health services told TOI that the doctors have been missing from their workplaces for years together. None of them has not even once responded to our frequent correspondences and notices all these years.

“Hence, this time, we have asked them to produce enough documents for their absence or face termination,” said Doke.
It has become increasing difficult for the department to fill up the occupied places with new recruitment.

“This has hampered medical services at government hospitals. We can not fill up the places without vacating the occupied places,” said Doke.

As per the Maharashtra Civil Service Rules 1979, it is a serious offense to remain absent from work without prior notice. Such an offense is also liable to attract strict action, said Doke.

“Earlier, we served them show-cause notices on 15 January and even published the same on the website (http://maha-arogya.gov.in ) of the department.

Later, again, we even published the summary dismissal notice in the booklet of the department. But none of them responded to either of these notices,” said Doke.

Most of these absentee officers are from primary health centres, district hospitals and rural hospitals. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : Two bodies were found in the jurisdiction of Duttawadi police station on Sunday evening.

The body of a seven-year-old girl was found floating in the Mutha right bank canal of Parvati water treatment plant, while a 25-year-old man’s body was found abandoned on Sinhagad road.

The post mortem reports have not revealed any sign of violence in both the cases.

The girl was identified as Komal Vairat of Wadgaon Dhayari. She had gone to wash clothes in the canal on Sunday morning and did not return. Her parents had filed a missing complaint at Abhiruchi police chowky. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Four people, including a one-and-a-half-year-old child were killed in separate accidents in the city in the past 48 hours.

According to a complaint filed by Navnath Pawar from Bhairavnagar, a car ran over his one-and-a-half-year-old son while he was playing in front of his house near Baji Prabhu chowk on Saturday afternoon.

Pawar said the car was taking a right turn when it hit his son. The kid was rushed to a private hospital, but succumbed to his injuries. Pawar works in a restaurant at Koregaon Park.

In another mishap, a two-wheeler driven by Farid Shaikh hit the bicycle of Namdeo Sathe (65), a scrap dealer from Gultekdi, near Signature hotel in Kondhwa on Sunday. Sathe succumbed to his injuries at Sassoon hospital.

In another accident near the Regional Transport Office two motorcyclists were crushed under a truck on Sunday night.

The victims, Ibrahim Shaikh (25) and Prashant Pal (21) were coming from Mangalwar Peth when a truck rammed them at the chowk.

Shaikh was a four-wheeler driver while Pal was an auto-rickshaw driver. The truck driver is absconding. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: Residents of Pimpri and Chinchwad have been facing the brunt of the stray dog menace over the last two days. As many as 25 people in the township have been treated for dog bites in the last 48 hours.

Speaking to TOI on Monday, A.D. Jagdale, medical superintendent, Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial hospital (YCMH), Sant Tukaramnagar, confirmed this and said that while on Saturday, 14 people had come in for treatment, the following day 11 more people arrived for treatment.

Ajit Gavhane, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) corporator and former standing committee chairman, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), said, “Around 25 to 30 people have been bitten by stray dogs over the last two days.

I have informed the PCMC health department, but they have been unsuccessful in catching the stray dogs.”

Speaking to TOI on Monday, Satish Gore, veterinary officer, PCMC, said that stray dog bite cases have been reported from the Bhosari area.

The PCMC has sent a team to catch stray dogs in these areas and 19 dogs were rounded up on Sunday in the areas around Dighi road, Gawlinagar, Rashtrapremnagar, Gujrathinagar, Landewadi, Vikasnagar, Sant Tukaramnagar and Dhawadevasti.

“The dogs will be kept under observation for three or four days. If the government doctor certifies that they are rabid and need to be put to sleep, then suitable action will be taken,” he explained. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More

TOI : PUNE: The Rajiv Gandhi zoological park at Katraj on Monday moved an application before judicial magistrate first class SJ Ansari urging her to direct the forest department, Pune, to take custody of an elephant on the grounds that the park is unable to maintain the animal due to paucity of funds.

The forest department had impounded ‘Poornima’ after it was found begging on June 7, 2007 and prosecuted the mahout, Dineshkumar Satyanarayan Tiwari, after he failed to produce evidence that he owned the animal.

The court, during the pendency of the trial, had directed the park authorities to keep the elephant in their custody.

The application, moved by the director of the park, through advocate Prakash Dugane said that it already has two elephants and that there was no infrastructure at the park for keeping Poornima as per the guidelines of the Central Zoo Authority.

The application says that the park was spending Rs 40,000 and Rs 45,000 per month on the elephant for the last 11 months and that the forest department has not yet reimbursed the amount despite repeated reminders.

It stated that the Animal Rescue Centre in New Delhi was willing to take custody of the elephant.

Meanwhile, Punekar Vidhyarthi Kruti Samiti and Mahila Hakka Sanrakshan Parishad moved an application through their lawyer, Nivedita Kale, for intervening in the case on the grounds that the court should take a humanitarian view before deciding on the matter. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news s…More