Palghar: The estimated loss due to heavy rains in Maharashtra’s Palghar in early July stands at Rs 170 crore, including Rs 148 crore due to damage to roads, bridges and related infrastructure under PWD jurisdiction, the district administration said on Monday.The district witnessed extremely heavy rains in the first week of July and then again between July 22 and 24, leading to massive flooding, especially in the Vasai-Virar belt, Palghar taluka, Kelve and Saphale, damaging thousands of homes, household items, foodgrains and livestock, officials said.During the early July rains, 20 fatalities were reported across the district, they added.The process of damage assessment surveys, or ‘panchnamas’, and distribution of financial assistance to affected citizens have been accelerated under the supervision of collector Indu Rani Jakhar, also the chairperson of District Disaster Management Authority, they said.“The administration estimates that the primary loss during the early July downpours stands at approximately Rs 170 crore. The loss to roads, bridges and related infrastructure under PWD jurisdiction alone is estimated at Rs 148 crore,” an official said.“During the early July rains, 20 fatalities were reported across the district. The administration has disbursed Rs 48 lakh in financial aid to 12 eligible legal heirs so far. Three deaths were recorded during the heavy spell between July 22 and 24 in Talasari, Dahanu and Palghar talukas, with compensation procedures underway,” he added.Out of 15,472 eligible families whose houses were flooded, Rs 3,66,31,575 has been disbursed to 7,469 families. A total of Rs 24,95,050 has been distributed for housing damage, and Rs 2.23 lakh for 23 completely damaged houses, the official said.For partially collapsed ‘pucca’ houses, Rs 19,27,370 has been distributed, while the figure is Rs 2.70 lakh for partially collapsed ‘kutcha’ houses, the official said.“Water entered 7,503 houses in Talasari, Dahanu and Palghar talukas between July 22 and 24. There are 690 reported house damage cases. A total of 3,450 flood panchnamas and 26 structural panchnamas have been completed. For early July rains, the administration disbursed Rs 3,22,000 in livestock compensation,” he said.The official said 504 livestock loss cases were registered in connection with the July 22 and 24 rains.To support thousands of displaced families in Dahanu, Talasari and Palghar, the district administration as well as corporate groups and charitable organisations are distributing essential food items, clothes, sheets and daily necessities.“Financial assistance will definitely be distributed to every eligible beneficiary as per govt norms. The administration is ensuring no eligible person is left out,” Jakhar said.

The bench observed that after being granted bail, Mhatre walked out of the hospital immediately and was welcomed by supporters.

MUMBAI: Expressing dissatisfaction with the investigation into Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre, who is accused of assaulting doctors at a hospital, and the alleged preferential treatment extended to him by the police, the Bombay HC on Monday directed that the case be transferred to the DCP of the concerned zone.The court observed that no meaningful investigation was conducted immediately after the alleged incident and said the police had shown a “rare respect” for the accused, according to news agency PTI.“In fact, the police officials (in-charge of the probe) obliged Mhatre and had sought permission from a local court to produce him via video conference for remand. They (police) showed a rare respect for the accused,” the bench said.A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad ordered that the investigation be handed over to the DCP of the concerned zone.“The DCP shall take over the probe as expeditiously as possible and ensure that all appropriate steps are taken to record statements of complainant, victims, and witnesses by granting them adequate protection,” the bench said and ordered the DCP to intimate the court on the progress of the investigation on July 31.The high courtalso criticised Mhatre’s conduct during the alleged incident and after his arrest.“He is an elected corporator. He is in public life and has vowed to serve the public. Why then does he behave like this?” the HC asked.The bench further remarked that it was surprising to see a public representative seek votes from people before an election and later allegedly assault members of the same public.“This is very strange and counterproductive,” the high court observed.The court also noted that after being remanded to judicial custody, Mhatre got himself admitted to a hospital, claiming that his blood pressure was high. However, it pointed out that he appeared to be in good health during the alleged assault on doctors.The bench further observed that after being granted bail, Mhatre walked out of the hospital immediately and was welcomed by a large number of supporters.According to the case, Mhatre and his aides allegedly attacked doctors and medical staff at a civic hospital in Dombivli, Thane district, on July 6 after relatives of a pregnant patient accused the hospital of delaying her treatment.A magistrate’s court granted Mhatre bail on July 15.Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court took suo motu cognisance of the matter, expressing concern over the “gravity and seriousness” of the incident. It stayed the Kalyan court’s order granting bail to Mhatre, describing it as “perverse”.Following the High Court’s intervention, Mhatre surrendered before the police and is currently in judicial custody.During Monday’s hearing, senior counsel Aabad Ponda, appearing for Mhatre, urged the High Court to vacate its earlier order staying the bail. He submitted that strict conditions could be imposed on his client.A lesson has been learnt, and a hard message has been sent across, Ponda said, adding that Mhatre was even willing to stay out of Maharashtra until the charge sheet in the case is filed.Senior advocate Ashok Mundargi, who was appointed by the court to assist in the matter, said Mhatre could be released on bail, provided the investigation is completed within a fixed timeline to ensure a fair probe.

Mumbai: The Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has ruled in favour of a woman who was saddled with an addition of Rs 80 lakh to her taxable income after the income-tax (I-T) department questioned a property payment made directly by her husband to the property seller. The husband, who was working in Dubai, made this payment on her behalf through authorised channels.The ‘Insight Portal’ of the I-T department revealed that she purchased immovable property for Rs 1.4 crore during the financial year ended March 31, 2016. This portal tracks high-value financial transactions and helps identify any non-payment of tax.During scrutiny proceedings, the I-T officer accepted that certain payments had been made from her Indian bank account. However, questions were raised on a sum of Rs 80 lakh that was paid directly to the seller by her husband, on her behalf.Her husband remitted the amount in two instalments of Rs 40 lakh each through a Dubai Exchange Bureau directly into the seller’s account. Since the remittance did not pass through the wife’s bank account and she could not produce documentary evidence such as the exchange bureau’s remittance records, the I-T officer treated the amount as an unexplained investment under Section 69, which would be taxable at a significantly high rate in her hands.Before the ITAT, she submitted that the source of the entire investment was fully explained and duly supported by documentary evidence. She furnished a complete reconciliation of the Rs 1.4 crore purchase consideration — including the direct payment made by her husband.She submitted a copy of the registered sale deed, gift deed executed by her husband, his affidavit confirming the payments, bank statements, and other supporting documents to establish the flow of funds and the genuineness of the transaction.The ITAT noted that the tax authorities did not dispute the identity of the husband, his financial capacity to make the payment, the fact that Rs 80 lakh was credited into the seller’s account, or the genuineness of the gift deed, affidavit, and other supporting documents.The ITAT ruled in her favour and held that there was no justification for treating the amount as an unexplained investment merely because a particular remittance record from the Dubai Exchange Bureau was not available. Tax experts point out that the ITAT rightly adopted a holistic approach.

Cops found 200 mule bank accounts across five states to deposit siphoned Rs 7.9 crore; the businessman did not believe when real cops went to alert him and approached them two days later after his bank balance went to zero and scammers asked him to take a loan to transfer more funds

Mumbai: A 73-year-old businessman from Andheri (West) registered an FIR on July 21 at the West cyber police station against unknown persons who allegedly kept him under digital arrest for two weeks from July 5 to 18 and made him transfer Rs 7.9 crore to half a dozen bank accounts, including one in Delhi, on the pretext of verifying the source of money he earned. Cyber police said they saved at least Rs 1.1 crore of the total amount so far.The senior citizen filed the complaint after realising he was being duped when the scammers kept demanding more money and asked him to take a loan after his bank account got empty. Police said the scammers threatened him by claiming his Aadhaar card and PAN card were used to open a bank account for a money laundering case related to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal registered in Delhi.“The probe found at least 200 mule bank accounts were opened in at least five different states to transfer the funds that were duped from the senior citizen from Andheri. We could have saved a larger sum had he believed our cyber police when they even took help of local police officers in uniform to convince him, but he didn’t,” said DCP (cyber) Bajrang Bansode.Bansode said cyber police and local police officers in uniform visited the senior citizen’s home for two days after the police received an alert from the Delhi police about the fraud and funds getting credited to a mule bank account in Delhi that was used by scammers in the cyber fraud. Police said the businessman did not believe the officers and did not allow them to step in to talk, and kept denying that he was not a victim of any fraud.“The Delhi police team, after freezing the account, gathered information of all those account holders who transferred the funds to it and started calling the victims. However, the Andheri senior citizen did not respond to the call. This made them contact us through the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) intelligence team in New Delhi to communicate with the victim after noticing continuous fund transactions were carried out from his account,” he said.The fraud began on July 5. The complainant said: “I received a WhatsApp call at 11.30 am. The caller told me that he was from the Delhi police and that they needed to interrogate me as my bank account was used in a multi-crore money laundering case related to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal registered there.”The complainant said he believed the caller as the WhatsApp number had a Delhi Police display picture. “They told me that since the case was related to national security, they would investigate it with extreme confidentiality and therefore, I should not tell anyone at home about it,” he said. “Later, I received a WhatsApp video call for the ‘interrogation’. The caller identified himself as Rahul Gupta from Delhi Police. He said that my Aadhaar card details had been used to open an account in a nationalised bank and Rs 7 crore had been deposited in the account, which was related to the money laundering case. He also threatened to send an arrest warrant via WhatsApp. I got scared and ended up losing money.”