News

TOI : PUNE: Officials of the crime branch told a court on Tuesday that the main accused in a case being heard had “confessed” to the theft of 25 heavy vehicles from Pune district. Raju Baburao Jawalkar (40) of Ahmednagar and his accomplices Jamshed Ansari (32) and Riyazuddin Khan (23), of Ahmednagar, had been arrested on March 25.

The suspects were produced before judicial magistrate first class Jyoti Purkar, following expiry of their police custody on Tuesday. Asking that the suspects be remanded to 10 days’ police custody, assistant public prosecutor Shilpa Mahatekar submitted that the police had recovered three vehicles and spare parts totalling Rs 24,53,500 from them.

Mahatekar argued that investigations revealed that the suspects transported the spare parts to Delhi where they were sold. She said the suspects had admitted to the theft of 14 more vehicles from various places and that the gang was involved in organised crime.

The prosecution contended that the crime committed by the suspects was grave and asked that sufficient time be given to the police to conduct investigations and trace Ramesh Mahadeo Kumbhar, who was absconding. The court upheld the prosecution’s plea and extended the police custody of the suspects till April 2. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: Venkatesh Chapalgaonkar (38), a journalist with a television channel, was killed when the car he was travelling in fell into a canal that broke the railings of a bridge near Mohol, about 200 km from here, on the Pune-Solapur highway on Monday night.

Chapalgaonkar was on his way to cover the filing of nomination by Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday morning. The driver of the car, Balu Sudam Kamble (26) of Pune-Satara road, succumbed to his injuries at a civil hospital in Solapur, while cameraman Rajesh Bidkar (25) of Bibvewadi-Kondhwa road sustained severe injuries.

Constable M R Arab of the Mohol police station told TOI that the accident took place around 11.30 pm. The car hit the railings of the bridge at Savaleshawar village near Mohol and fell into the canal. Chapalgaonkar, who was in the front seat, died on the spot.

“Within 20 minutes of the mishap, we reached the spot with an ambulance and shifted Kamble and Bidkar to the civil hospital. But Kamble died during treatment,” Arab said. Chapalgaonkar’s body was brought to Pune on Tuesday morning. The last rites were performed at the Vaikunth crematorium in the afternoon. Chapalgaonkar is survived by wife Rupa and sons Param and Veer. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: A second-year law student was arrested by the social security cell of the Pune crime branch, along with two call girls on Paud road on Tuesday afternoon. The student was allegedly involved in a sex racket and has been identified as Rahul alias Uday Shankar Shahi (21) of Shindenagar in Bavdhan.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team led by inspector Rajendra Bhamre of the security cell laid a trap on Paud road, near the PMPML depot, and nabbed the suspects. They were booked under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA), Bhamre said.

“Shahi studies at a city-based law college. He hails from Bihar and has been living in Pune for two years. The two girls were working as commercial sex workers and we used a decoy customer to entrap them,” Bhamre said.

“Shahi has been operating the sex racket for six months from Pune and from Mumbai. The girls currently live in Ulhasnagar. One of them hails from Assam and the other from Chandrapur district in Maharashtra. Shahi is the boyfriend of the Chandrapur-based girl and had forced her into prostitution,” Bhamre added. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The stand off between Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi and NCP senior leader and guardian minister Ajit Pawar seems far from over. Reciprocating junior Pawar’s decision to keep away from the Congress Bhavan meeting last week, Kalmadi on Tuesday skip the rally organised by the NCP in presence of Ajit Pawar.

Three NCP candidates including Supriya Sule (Baramati), Vilas Lande (Shirur) and Azam Pansare (Maval) filed their nomination papers on Tuesday after which the NCP-Congress and Republican Party of India (RPI Athavale faction) had organised a combine rally. NCP leaders including Ajit Pawar, Dilip Walse-Patil, Sunil Tatkar and Congress leaders Anant Thopte and Harshvardhan Patil were present on the occasion. However, Kalmadi skipped the meeting and Ajit Pawar didn’t mention his name during his speech.

City Congress unit chief Abhay Chajjed clarified on Kalmadi’s absence saying that since it was an all-NCP nomination rally, Kalmadi’s presence was not required. “Sonia Gandhi and Sharad Pawarsaheb have decided to face elections together. However, there is a need to explain this stand to some others. In politics no one is a permanent enemy. Pawarsaheb went to Congress Bhavan and has clarified his stand,” said Ajit Pawar adding that with Congress and NCP joining hands, alliance candidates will get maximum seats in the state.

NCP state unit president R R Patil said, “As state president I have ordered party workers to work for Congress candidates. Our opposition is not Congress but the BJP-Shiv Sena combine. Patil said the Sena-BJP had not right to speak on terrorism as their MLAs demanded suspension of late Ashok Kamte when he was superintendent of police in Solapur. “How can one forget that the Sena had threatened to blacken faces of family members of police officers including late Hemant Karkare since they were investigating the Malegaon blasts. Shiv Sena should answer this first and then talk of terrorism,” said Patil.

All leaders including candidates…More

TOI : PUNE: The new president of the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB), Brigadier Rajbir Singh, on Tuesday asked elected members of the board to come-up with a perspective plan of development. Addressing the board members after his swearing-in ceremony at the PCB office, Singh advocated planned development. “The development plan should be drawn with a view to match with the development pattern of the city for the next 15 years.” Singh also stressed on well managed development of cantonment areas.

Singh urged the members to not resort to unnecessary debates during board meetings. Earlier, PCB chief executive officer D K Malik administered oath to Singh. On the occasion, Singh said that the rule of law would be upheld in issues of public interest.

During the meeting, issues of appointment of pay and park contractors and sealing and de-sealing of properties were raised. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The Pune Bar Association (PBA) on Tuesday formed a six-member committee, headed by the association president Ram Patole, to resolve the parking problems at the district and sessions court. The other committee members include lawyers Audumber Khune-Patil, N D Patil, Vidya Pelapkar, Kishore Patil and Datta Tupe.

The committee has been asked to suggest ways and means to streamline parking problems in the court premises and submit its report to the court’s administrations department at the earliest. Patole in a statement said lawyers and litigants are facing a major problem in parking vehicles ever since the police have tightened security arrangements in the court premises.

There are about 80 courts and most of the time litigants are asked to park their vehicles on the road outside the court. Parking has been banned in several parts of the court as a preventive measure and only the police vehicles escorting criminals are allowed to park in the court premises.

The PBA decided to form a committee to resolve the parking problems after the issue raked up into a controversy among the lawyers in the general body meeting held on March 26. “The PBA has also invited suggestions and objections from the lawyers in this regard,” Patole added. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: A flap shelled turtle was found in the river Pavana in Punawale-Ravet area of the Pimpri-Chinchwad township. Speaking to TOI on Tuesday, Anil Khaire, director, Bahinabai Chaudhary Zoo, told TOI that, “fisherman Sameer Shirke, who was fishing in the river, found the turtle in his net. The turtle, weighing around 30 kg, has a length of 26 inches and width of 24 inches.

Khaire said that even though this type of turtles were found in abundance in the Pavana, Mula and Mutha rivers, such large ones are rarely found now. Finding of such a large turtle shows that the turtles are still there in good numbers in the river.

The turtle was brought to the zoo by the fisherman. Later it was released in a quarry at the Bird Valley Park in Chinchwad. Khaire advised the fishermen to release the turtles back into the river if they are trapped in the nets. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: City-based Sajag Nagrik Manch (SNM), on Monday, announced that it will organise a special meeting of all contesting Lok Sabha candidates with citizens on April 5. The meeting will be an open forum where people will be free to question the candidates on all issues related to the city.

Candidates from Congress, Bhartiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have agreed to attend the meeting and face the citizens’ questions. “All the four candidates have agreed to attend the meeting on April 5 at Zanzale hall on Bajirao Raod,” said Vivek Velankar, chairman of the Manch.

“We are undecided about inviting the other candidates as this may affect the quality of interaction and mar the meet’s purpose. The decision to invite others will be taken soon,” Velankar added. Co-organiser of the meeting and chairman of Loktantra Vikas Manch, Vinayak Ambekar, said, “People can e-mail their queries to pranku@vsnl.com and ambekar_vinayak@vsnl.net till Saturday evening. These questions will then be compiled for the meeting.” “The organising committee will also have supporting data, which will be shared openly if candidates give inappropriate or misleading information,” Ambekar said. Print Emai…More

TOI : PUNE: The 2.25-km stretch of the Mumbai-Pune highway in the Khadki cantonment limits has been a major bottleneck for vehicular traffic due to its narrow width and poor construction quality. However, in about two months from now, the entire highway stretch will have a smooth concrete surface with provision for six lanes, instead of the present two-lane. This is being made possible due to the initiative of the Pune Municipal Corporation to widen the highway stretch. The work is being carried out under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The highway stretch in the Khadki limits begins near the Khadki railway station and ends near Central Hatcheries. The two-lane highway was proving to be quite narrow as vehicular traffic had increased considerably over the past 10 to 15 years. There have been frequent traffic snarls on this stretch. And it had also become accident prone because of potholes and poor road surface. The local residents and civic activists have been demanding that the road be widened to reduce these problems.

The stretch was earlier under the control of state Public Works Department (PWD). It was later transferred to the Khadki Cantonment Board for repairs and maintenance. The KCB, however, did not have the required funds to undertake widening works. The authorities had earlier come up with a plan to widen the road on a build, operate and transfer basis. However, this plan did not work out. Later, on the request of the KCB, the Pune Municipal Corporation agreed to take over the highway stretch for maintenance and repairs. And the widening work was initiated six months back.

The widening work is expected to be completed before monsoon. Commuters, who have been facing hardships for over six months, will now have to endure for only two more months.

At present, only one-way traffic from Khadki to Bopodi is being allowed for early completion of…More

TOI : PUNE: In a candid admission, BJP city unit chief Girish Bapat said that his party is well aware of the fact Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will eat into the traditional vote bank of the saffron alliance this time. However, he claimed to have a strategic plan in place to tackle the situation.

Talking to reporters in a informal meeting on Monday evening, the city MLA said his party has not jumped onto any conclusions and was keeping a close watch on political developments. “We have a planned strategy and we will keep a close watch on political developments and changes in equations. We have a good network of booth workers and they share responsibilities ably,” said Bapat.

When asked if BSP candidate will make a dent into BJP’s traditional vote bank, Bapat said, “Yes, we have to admit that some voting patterns will change. How many votes BSP will take is something only time can tell. Besides, the MNS votes are originally Shiv Sena’s. The votes will split between Sena and MNS. In Lok Sabha elections the votes MNS eats will be from our share.” However, Bapat admitted that strategies will keep changing till the last minute as per the situation.

BJP candidate Anil Shirole said, “We are focusing on development works out partymen have done so far. We promise citizens a better city infrastructure. The BJP will come out with a city-specific manifesto.” Shirole will file his nomination on Wednesday. Print Emai…More