Thane: Police registered a case against three individuals for allegedly cheating a 49-year-old homemaker and seven other persons of Rs 16 lakh on the promise of securing jobs in the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) in Maharashtra, officials said on Sunday.The alleged offence occurred over the last year. The accused allegedly collected Rs 16 lakh from the eight victims after assuring them of jobs in the TMC, but neither arranged the promised jobs nor returned the money, a police officer said. When the victims sought either the promised employment or a refund of their money, the accused allegedly threatened them with dire consequences, he said. Based on the woman’s complaint, the Thane Nagar police registered an FIR on July 10 against the accused under Sections 318(4) (cheating), 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the official said. No arrests have been made so far, and further investigation is underway, the police said.

The site, ‘maharashtramedicalcouncile.in’, is a replica of the council’s official website and features both a login page and a payment portal

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) filed an online cyber complaint late last week after discovering a website that mimicked the council, attempting to phish for data or money from medical professionals.The site, ‘maharashtramedicalcouncile.in’, is a replica of the council’s official website and features both a login page and a payment portal. Although the site appears to be in its early stages, as the pages do not currently progress beyond the initial clicks, the council is not taking any chances. “It could become functional at any point, so as a precaution, we have filed an official complaint,” said Dr Vinky Rughwani, MMC administrator.City-based Dr Santosh Kadam, former Indian Medical Association (IMA) state president, said that doctors have already been warned about the fake website.He added that the medical community has become increasingly cautious following several recent scam attempts targeting doctors. Just two days ago, Dr Kadam said, a state IMA office-bearer suffered a ‘digital nightmare’ when his phone was cloned by a scammer.Speaking to TOI, Nagpur-based Dr Kush Jhunjhunwala said he was expecting a delivery when he received a call stating that a delivery person was unable to locate his home and was asked to call a specific number. “As soon as I dialled the number, my phone was hacked. I lost complete control, and the phone was switched off.”He reached out to friends in the Nagpur police, and the matter was taken care of. However, by then, all of his contacts had received WhatsApp messages asking them to send Rs 45,000 for urgent help. “No one fell for it, but it was scary,” said Dr Jhunjhunwala.

Mumbai: The MSRTC will operate 5,500 special buses for the Ashadhi Wari pilgrimage to Pandharpur to facilitate the travel of lakhs of devotees expected to visit the temple town for darshan of Lord Vitthal and Goddess Rukmin. Any group of 40 or more devotees can book a special bus from any village in Maharashtra directly to Pandharpur. Existing passenger concessions will remain applicable, including free travel for citizens above 75 years under the Amrut Senior Citizen Scheme and a 50% fare concession for women under the Mahila Samman Yojana.This year, more than 13,000 employees, including drivers, conductors, mechanics and officers, will be on duty round the clock. Four temporary bus stations—Chandrabhaga, Bhima (Degaon), Vitthal Factory and Pandurang (ITI College)—will be set up with drinking water, toilets, reservation counters, enquiry centres, CCTV surveillance and other passenger amenities. Sarnaik also inspected the temporary Bhima bus station and reviewed facilities for pilgrims.

Mumbai had witnessed intense rain activity in the first week of July

Mumbai: After intense monsoon activity in the first week of July, the city witnessed a complete lull in rainfall over the weekend, with the dry spell pushing up both day and night temperatures.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded above-normal temperatures at both its observatories on Sunday. The minimum temperature at Colaba stood at 27.7°C, 2 degrees above normal, while Santacruz recorded 27.4°C, which was 1.6 degrees above normal. Daytime temperatures also climbed, with Colaba registering a maximum of 32.4°C, 2.3 degrees above normal, and Santacruz recording 32.2°C, 1.7 degrees above normal. High humidity added to the discomfort, with relative humidity touching 83% at Colaba and 78% at Santacruz.The dry spell has also stalled gains in Mumbai’s water reserves. Water stocks in the seven lakes that supply drinking water to the city have remained unchanged at 49.84% of their total capacity for the past three days, pointing at the absence of any significant rainfall in the catchment areas.“The temporary break in rainfall has allowed temperatures to rise as there is more heating during the day. At the same time, the moisture left behind by the recent spell of heavy rain is keeping humidity levels high, making weather conditions feel warmer than the actual temperatures,” said a weather official.Weather officials said rainfall activity is expected to resume as monsoon conditions become favourable again over the coming days.

Rats found inside quick commerce grocery store

Navi Mumbai: A video clip showing two rats roaming around at a quick commerce grocery store in Ghansoli in the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation jurisdiction went viral on social media on Sunday.In the two-minute video, a staff member at the store was seen catching one rat found hidden in the stock of Amul milk products and another rat hidden in a basket of watermelons, with one watermelon already nibbled by the rat. Rat pups were found in two baskets, one of them containing snacks.When contacted, NMMC commissioner Kailas Shinde said, “Upon seeing the video on social media, I told the Ghansoli ward officer to check and ascertain. The ward officer reported that he personally visited the store in Ghansoli and checked; when it was learnt that the video in question was three to four months old, he will contact the FDA department on Monday and accordingly initiate further action.”Vasant Mundavare, Ghansoli ward officer, said, “As the Ghansoli store incharge has claimed that the video of rats was 3-4 months old, on Monday, I will initially inquire with NMMC’s Licensing department headed by Deputy Municipal Commissioner Rahul Gethe, whether previously any action had been taken against the concerned store for unhygienic conditions due to which the rats were roaming in the stock of eatables.”

The incident took place around 6.34 pm at Shree Saraswati Chawl in Ambedkar Nagar (Representative image generated using AI)

MUMBAI: A 25-year-old woman was injured after the slab of a dilapidated chawl collapsed beneath her while she was drying clothes in Mankhurd on Saturday evening.The incident took place around 6.34 pm at Shree Saraswati Chawl in Ambedkar Nagar, PMGP Colony.According to civic officials, the woman had entered the first floor of an unoccupied, dilapidated ground-plus-one structure to dry clothes when the slab suddenly gave way, causing her to fall to the ground floor.Ward staff rushed to the spot and shifted the injured woman, identified as Sunita Yadav (25), to Shatabdi Hospital.She was later referred to Sion Hospital for further treatment.On Sunday evening, hospital authorities informed the BMC that Yadav had taken Discharge Against Medical Advice (DAMA) and left Sion Hospital on Sunday morning.The exact cause of the slab collapse is yet to be ascertained.Civic officials said the structure was vacant and in a dilapidated condition.

File pic for representation

Mumbai: Hours after security was beefed up at Red Fort in Delhi following a hoax bomb threat, Navi Mumbai police control room received a call around Saturday midnight, warning of an explosion at a luxury hotel in south Mumbai.A Navi Mumbai police team traced the caller to Turbhe within hours and arrested him. “It was a hoax call originating from Turbhe. The caller was drunk. Necessary action has been initiated by our police,” said Navi Mumbai police commissioner Milind Bharambe on Sunday.On receiving the call, Navi Mumbai police immediately relayed the alert to their counterparts in Mumbai, who tightened security in and around the hotel.A Colaba police officer said the bomb disposal and detection squad carried out an extensive search of the hotel premises and scanned the guest list before confirming it was a hoax call. “There was no immediate threat to guests or hotel staff, and normal operations resumed after the search was completed. However, security personnel remained on alert as a precautionary measure,” said a police officer.Police appealed to the public not to spread unverified information and said strict action would be taken against those responsible for making hoax bomb threats.

A large group assembled outside the police station to call for severe consequences for the accused

MUMBAI: A security guard was arrested on Sunday for allegedly sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl inside a restroom in south Mumbai’s Pydhonie area, police said.The incident sparked massive protests outside the local police station, where hundreds gathered to demand strict action against the accused.The girl is undergoing treatment at a hospital following the incident, a police official said.The accused security guard was arrested shortly after a complaint was lodged, the official added.The alleged assault triggered a huge protest with hundreds of people gathering outside Phdhonie police station seeking exemplary action against the accused.The mob blocked the road outside the station, which disrupted traffic in the area for a brief while, the official said.“Police managed to disperse the mob and restore normalcy in the area,” he said.Eyewitnesses said some protesters also surrounded Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar when he arrived at Pydhonie police station after learning about the sexual assault incident.They raised slogans seeking strict action against the accused.Heavy police presence is in place in the area to prevent any flare-up or untoward incident, the official said.(With PTI inputs)