The accused was arrested after a tip-off from a local resident led police to the vehicle carrying the body

Kalyan: A 40-year-old village sarpanch from Kolhapur district was allegedly strangled to death by her lover, who then drove her body more than 350km to Bhiwandi in Thane district to dispose of it. The accused was arrested after a tip-off from a local resident led Narpoli police to the vehicle carrying the body.The deceased, Surekha Nyare, was the elected sarpanch of Shirgaon village in Shahuwadi taluka of Kolhapur district. Police identified the accused as Prakash Patil (40), also a resident of Shirgaon.According to investigators, Nyare and Patil were in an extramarital relationship. During questioning, Patil allegedly said that Nyare was pressuring for separation from their respective spouses so that they could get married, which led to frequent fights between them. He also allegedly suspected her of seeing another man.On Sunday, around 11am, Patil allegedly took Nyare to his farm in Shirgaon and strangled her to death. He then allegedly wrapped the body, placed it inside the boot of his car and drove overnight to a relative’s house in Kasheli in Bhiwandi.However, his suspicious behaviour raised doubts, prompting the relative to alert Narpoli police. Acting swiftly, a police team intercepted the car , recovered the body and arrested Patil.Senior inspector Vijay Kadbane of Narpoli police station said a Zero FIR was registered under Section 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The body was sent for postmortem examination before the case was transferred to Kolhapur police.Kadbane said that the primary probe showed that both were married and the deceased wanted to marry the accused, but he was refused. Further, the accused also suspected her of having an affair with someone else. These two reasons led to the killing, he said, adding that probe is on.

Kalyan: The presence of an iron box on the railway tracks between Ulhasnagar and Ambernath briefly disrupted suburban train services early Tuesday morning, with the alertness of a motorman preventing what could have turned into a serious mishap.According to Central Railway (CR) officials, the obstruction was noticed by the motorman of a Thane-Karjat local train while it was travelling on the down line. The train was immediately brought to a halt at around 5.44 am after the iron box was spotted lying between the rails.Railway officials identified the motorman as R S Saini. He got down from the train, removed the iron box from the tracks with assistance, and ensured the line was safe before resuming the journey at 5.56 am. The timely action resulted in a delay of around 12 minutes but helped avoid any untoward incident. Thousands of commuters were travelling on the busy suburban corridor at the time.Following the incident, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Govt Railway Police (GRP) were alerted and rushed to the spot. The object was seized and an inquiry was launched to determine how it came to be on the tracks. Senior inspector Santosh Ahirwar of the Badlapur RPF said railway work is currently underway in the area. Investigators are examining whether the iron box was inadvertently left behind by workers engaged in the project or someone deliberately placed it on the tracks. Officials said all possibilities, including mischief and sabotage, are being probed.Railway authorities praised the motorman’s prompt response, saying his presence of mind ensured passenger safety and prevented disruption on one of Central Railway’s busiest suburban routes. The investigation is continuing.

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Mumbai: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered a case against two individuals for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe to facilitate the release of a car towed by the BMC.The accused have been identified as Santosh Sonu Patade (51) and Devendra Chandrakant Bandwadkar (52). A case has been registered against them under Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.According to the ACB, the complainant’s Maruti Suzuki WagonR was towed by the BMC on July 14. Patade allegedly demanded Rs 10,700 for releasing the vehicle. Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the ACB’s Worli unit on July 23 and lodged a complaint.During the verification process conducted the same day, Bandwadkar allegedly stated that payment had to be made for the vehicle’s release and, after negotiations, agreed to accept Rs 6,000. Acting on the complaint, the ACB laid a trap on July 27 and allegedly caught Patade red-handed while accepting Rs 6,000 on behalf of Bandwadkar without issuing any official govt receipt.

Mumbai: Businessman Raj Kundra has moved Bombay high court to quash and set aside a PMLA court’s January 5 order that took cognisance of Enforcement Directorate’s supplementary prosecution complaint in a cryptocurrency money laundering case and issued summons to him.On Tuesday, before Justice Ashwin Bhobe, Kundra’s advocate argued that neither was a notice issued to his client nor was he heard before cognisance was taken. The judge adjourned the hearing to August 6 after ED’s advocate sought time to take instructions.In 2019, the ED had filed a prosecution complaint against Gainbit.com promoter Amit Bhardwaj, directors of Variable Tech Pvt Ltd and others. In February 2024, the special court took cognisance of it. However, Kundra was named as an accused in ED’s September 2025 supplementary complaint. The ED alleged that Kundra received 285 Bitcoins worth over Rs 150 crore from Bhardwaj between July and August 2017, but neither disclosed details of the Bitcoin wallet nor handed it over during investigation.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Cyber Cell found that 429 handles or posts were created on Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube to spread fake and derogatory information, including 140 AI-generated content, during the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest march.The cyber cell team that deleted the posts or handles found that Instagram was used the most, with 312 posts spreading fake narratives, videos and content using AI to create unrest in the country and also in Mumbai and Maharashtra. Meanwhile, 55 posts were uploaded through X, 40 on Facebook and 22 on YouTube last week. “Out of the total 429 fake narrative contents or posts across the social media platforms that are being deleted, 76.7% (329) are uploaded through India-based handles. While 23.3% (100) are created and uploaded using handles out of India. It is also noticed that 32.6% of the total handles or posts are AI-generated or AI-assisted contents,” said additional director general of police (State-Cyber) Yashasvi Yadav.While analysing the handles that were deleted later, the cyber cell found that a Pakistan-based X (formerly Twitter) account was created using a Pakistan Android app in April 2026 and was reportedly used to spread fake narratives with artificial intelligence-manipulated content. One fake narrative using AI was posted on July 23, falsely claiming that a student died during the Jantar Mantar protest and that his mother was denied an FIR. The claim was false as the student was revived after CPR, and the mother’s video was AI-manipulated.

Bhiwandi: A 27-year-old man was killed and two others were injured after they were allegedly attacked by a group of men over an old rivalry in Bhiwandi on Monday night. The Bhoiwada police have registered a murder case against five accused, who are currently absconding.The deceased was identified as Ankush Ade (27), while the injured were identified as Bhavesh Parihar and Deepak Rathod. Both the injured are undergoing treatment at a hospital.According to police, the attack stemmed from a long-standing dispute between Bhavesh Parihar and one of the accused, Umesh Singh. The rivalry allegedly escalated on Monday night when Singh, along with his associates, confronted Parihar and launched a violent assault on him and his companions.All three victims sustained serious injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital. While Ade succumbed to his injuries during treatment, Parihar and Rathod continue to receive medical care.Based on the complaint, the Bhoiwada police have registered an FIR against Umesh Singh, Pawan Jadhav and three other accused under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for murder and related offences.Police said efforts are underway to trace and arrest the accused. Investigators are also examining the circumstances leading to the attack and have recorded statements of witnesses as part of the ongoing probe.

Fire brigade personnel and emergency responders conduct a rescue operation after a tree crashed on a school van in Chembur on June 30, killing one 11-year-old student and leaving others injured

Mumbai: BMC’s internal inquiry into the tree crash that killed 11-year-old Vihaan Srivastava in Chembur on June 30 has come under attack from both the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance and Congress, with corporators demanding a fresh, independent probe into the incident.Ten days after Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde and BJP group leader Ganesh Khankar rejected the civic administration’s inquiry report, the issue is once again being raised.Corporators cutting across party lines said the report had virtually given a clean chit to civic officials while merely imposing a penalty on the contractor, a response they said was wholly inadequate considering that a child had lost his life. Shiv Sena party leader Amey Ghole said he will be demanding that an IAS-level inquiry be instituted into the incident.He said that the administration should treat the matter with greater sensitivity instead of ignoring requests made by members of the ruling alliance.Congress also backed the demand for a fresh probe, stating that it was unfortunate that the civic administration was not heeding the concerns raised by the ruling party itself. Congress party leader in the BMC Ashraf Azmi said, “It is surprising that 10 days have passed since the demand was made by the Mayor and yet the administration is silent on it.”However, BJP party leader in BMC Ganesh Khankar said, “I have already spoken to the administration regarding the matter and a third-party inquiry is going to set up into it. The civic administration will officially announce it very soon.”On June 30, Srivastav died after a tree crashed on the school bus he was travelling in. An inquiry was initiated into the incident and the contractor, who undertook road works on the stretch, was fined Rs 5 lakh and the consultant Rs 2 lakh.