Maharashtra now requires commercial passenger vehicle drivers to know Marathi. (File photo)

MUMBAI: Practical knowledge of Marathi has been made mandatory for all commercial passenger vehicle drivers in Maharashtra, including those operating app-based cabs, with the state government warning of strict action against violators.The new directive, announced by Maharashtra transport minister Pratap Sarnaik on Wednesday, has been formalized through the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules, 2026, which introduce clearer language requirements into the existing 1989 rules.Under the amended rules, drivers who fail to demonstrate a working knowledge of Marathi could face suspension of their driving authorization for three months. Repeated violations may result in permanent cancellation of their permits.“These amendments remove ambiguity in the rules and make the importance of practical Marathi for passenger-vehicle drivers clearer. Practical knowledge of the local language is necessary to communicate with passengers, understand their concerns, and ensure a safe and convenient journey,” Sarnaik said.The amendments apply to drivers and permit holders of auto-rickshaws, taxis and app-based motor cabs equipped with electronic meters, including those operating through platforms such as Ola and Uber.In a significant change to Rule 4 of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, “working knowledge of Marathi language” has been added as a prerequisite for those applying for commercial driving authorization. A new provision under Rule 22 also requires authorized drivers of app-based cabs to possess practical knowledge of the language.The requirement extends beyond drivers to permit holders. Under amended Rules 78 and 85, the concerned permit holder must also possess practical knowledge of Marathi.The state government clarified that the changes are amendments to the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, and do not constitute a new law. The move follows complaints that non-Marathi-speaking drivers were using ambiguities in the earlier rules to avoid compliance.Sarnaik said the level of Marathi proficiency would have to be deemed “satisfactory” by the concerned licensing authorities to ensure effective communication between drivers and passengers.

Police said over a dozen theft cases were registered since 2024 at Sahar and Airport police stations, but none was solved, and an insider role was suspected in the thefts.

MUMBAI: Airport authorities and police have failed to find a solution to the rise in thefts of valuables, mobile phones and baggage belonging to passengers at Mumbai’s domestic and international airports.Since 2024, more than a dozen thefts have reportedly occurred at the city’s two airports, but not a single case has been solved and no thief has been caught.In the latest case, registered on August 10, a homemaker from Chennai flew back to Mumbai a week after discovering that her valuables had been stolen at Mumbai airport.The complaint was filed at Sahar police station as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport falls under its jurisdiction. The Chennai resident alleged that two gold earrings, a gold ring with a floral design and a silver anklet, collectively valued at Rs 49,000, were stolen after she checked in her baggage and boarded her flight.“On reaching Chennai, I checked my baggage and found the valuables missing. I went to Chennai Airport and reviewed the entire CCTV footage, which showed that there had been no tampering with my bag. After that, I became convinced that an unknown person had stolen two pairs of earrings, a ring and anklets from my baggage without my consent at Terminal 2 of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport,” Hajira Abutahir (36) said in the FIR.Abutahir, a resident of Chennai, had visited Mumbai’s Dharavi locality on July 18 after her brother Abdulrazzak welcomed a baby boy. “I stayed at my maternal home for a few days. On July 29, at 7 pm, I left Dharavi in my brother’s car and reached Terminal 2 of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at 8.40 pm. I deposited my grey suitcase and a black bag at the Air India check-in counter. I kept another black bag with me. The checked-in baggage was to be collected by me at Chennai International Airport. One black bag contained a plastic box with a necklace, two pairs of earrings and a ring. Another plastic box contained silver anklets. However, the following valuables were stolen at Mumbai airport after the bags were handed over for loading into the aircraft’s cargo hold,” she said in the FIR.After discovering the theft, Abutahir flew back to Mumbai and filed a complaint against an unidentified person at Sahar police station on August 10. She alleged that the valuables were stolen at Terminal 2 after her bags had been checked in and loaded into the cargo section.The theft was reported a week after a first-year MBBS student and Irish citizen, whose baggage containing clothes, makeup kits and other belongings went missing at Mumbai International Airport in June, was left distressed after the bag was allegedly stolen from within the airport premises, police and family members said.The student, Harshita Agarwal (19), was on a two-month vacation and had travelled to Mumbai to visit her maternal uncle in Jalna.The family alleged that Emirates showed little interest in helping recover the bag even after being informed that CCTV footage showed a man, described as a seafarer from Saudi Arabia, taking the bag and boarding a flight to Dubai. The case was registered at Sahar police station on August 2 after Jalna police recorded Agarwal’s complaint two weeks earlier and transferred the case to Mumbai for further investigation.“As the incident occurred almost a month and a half ago, our team has sought CCTV footage to track down the person who took Agarwal’s baggage,” a Sahar police station officer said.Police said more than a dozen theft cases have been registered since 2024 at Sahar and Airport police stations, but none have been solved. Investigators suspect the involvement of insiders in some of the thefts.Unsolved Past Cases:Feb 2026 | Powai police registered an FIR of theft against an unidentified person for allegedly stealing Rs 1.5 lakh from the baggage of a 42-year-old businessman who travelled from Delhi to Mumbai. The complainant, identified as Afzal Zafar Chaudhary (42), a construction material supplying businessman and a resident of Uttar Pradesh, told police he travelled on Spicejet flight SG 385 between 06.15 am and 08.30 am and reached Mumbai Airport Terminal. Case still unsolvedJune 2025 | A flyer, AD Jain, vice president of a real estate company, discovered that gold ornaments worth ₹5.5 lakhs, belonging to his wife, were missing from his laptop bag upon landing at Mumbai International Airport from Delhi at 4 am. Case registered with Shivaji Park police and it is unsolved.April 2025| : A nurse, aged 50, discovered that her gold jewellery valued at Rs1.25 lakhs had vanished during her journey from Kochi to Mumbai on Akasa flight on Mar 28. The ornaments were stored in a purse within her handbag, which she had placed in the aircraft’s luggage compartment. Upon arrival at Mumbai airport, Rosamma Joseph, realised that whilst her handbag remained intact, the purse containing the precious items was missing. Case with Airport police which is unsolved.Feb 2025| A 63-year-old retired mechanical engineer from Navi Mumbai faced a distressing situation at Mumbai International Airport after his flight from Kolkata when thieves stole his password-protected iPhone from his shirt pocket on Feb 8. The victim, Badal Dutta, later discovered that the accused had carried out 10 unauthorised transactions from his three bank accounts within an hour of the theft after reaching home, according to police. Case still unsolved

The Mumbai crime branch has made a notable arrest, detaining a former administrative officer implicated in a major scam (Representative image)

MUMBAI: The city crime branch probing the police salary scam where nearly Rs 6.5 crore was allegedly paid as salaries to 10 ghost employees of the city police, arrested a former administrative officer of the Northern Regional Division office.The unit 12 of the crime branch arrested Ramkishan Ganesh Goswami (61), police have identified five more employees involved in the scam namely Nagesh Talwadekar a administrative officer, clerks Vijay Chavan, Ajay Rathod and senior clerk Amol Mesharam who have been shown as absconding accused.Goswami was arrested after investigators located him at his residence in Kanjurmarg East.The Rs 6.41-crore payroll fraud came to light during the migration of employee data from the department’s old Sevarth salary portal to a new software system.The internal inquiries found that 10 non-police personnel had been repeatedly shown as employees in official records, with monthly salaries being credited to their bank accounts.The 10 fictitious employees named in the FIR are Ramdas Bhogle, Sudhakar Kadam, Sarju Yadav, Bhagwat Bhosale, Gunaji Khavkar, Mahadev Haldankar, Rajendra Sonar, Uttam Thorat, Suryakant Patil and Pandurang Kadam.Police said Goswami, who was working as an Administrative Officer and Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) at the Northern Regional Division during the period when the alleged fraud took place.An inquiry was ordered after discrepancies in salary payments were detected during the transfer of employees from the old service system to a new system.The alleged fraud occurred between December 2019 and September 2020 The inquiry allegedly revealed that 10 fake service IDs had been created in the names of persons who were not police personnel.Police said salary bills were subsequently prepared and approved in the names of these fictitious employees.The excess salary amount of Rs 6.41 crore was allegedly transferred through Axis Bank into 163 bank accounts belonging to non-police personnel.The investigation was initially registered at Samta Nagar police station under sections 409, 420, 406, 467, 465, 471, 201, 120(B) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.On the directions of the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Mumbai, the investigation was later transferred to the crime branch.During the probe, police obtained documents from the Northern Regional Division, including records showing the accused’s posting and responsibilities, service-ID creation forms, salary bills, cash-book entries and correspondence with banks regarding salary payments.Investigators also examined and imaged the computer system of the Pay Branch.

A shocking case in Palghar saw a woman abducted and subjected to gang rape after her motorcycle skidded off a lonely road (Representative image generated using AI)

PALGHAR: A two-wheeler skid on a deserted stretch of road turned into a night of horror for a 19-year-old woman and her male friend in Palghar’s Talasari area, with police alleging that a group of men intercepted the couple, forced the man to flee and later took the woman to a secluded location where she was allegedly gang-raped.The woman and her friend were returning from Umargaon in Gujarat on Sunday night when their two-wheeler skidded near Amgaon, within the jurisdiction of Talasari police station, police said.Couple falls off bike, men allegedly approachAccording to Talasari police inspector Ajay Gorhad, the couple was spotted by a group of men who were passing through the area.The men allegedly threatened the woman’s friend, following which he fled the spot. Police said the accused then called three more accomplices to the location.The group allegedly forced the woman onto a two-wheeler and took her to Acchad, where she was allegedly gang-raped.Woman reaches police station after alleged assaultFollowing the alleged assault, the survivor approached Talasari police station and lodged a formal complaint.Police registered an FIR under Section 70(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), pertaining to gang rape, along with other relevant provisions.The survivor underwent a medical examination and is currently stated to be stable, police said.One arrested, three detained as hunt continuesPolice teams were deployed to trace those allegedly involved in the crime after the complaint was registered. Senior police officials, including Palghar SP Yatish Deshmukh, visited the crime scene as investigators began examining the circumstances of the incident.Police have arrested one person and detained three others in connection with the case, while a search is underway for the remaining accused.Investigators are now working to establish the roles of each of the accused and piece together the events from the time the couple’s two-wheeler skidded near Amgaon to the alleged abduction and assault at Acchad.

A fire ignited in two flats situated on the 11th floor of a Vile Parle building

MUMBAI: Two people, including a 2.5-year-old child, died and six others were injured after a fire broke out in two flats on the 11th floor of a residential building in Vile Parle (West) late Tuesday night.The fire erupted around 10.02pm at Shanta Bhavan Building on Baptista Road, near St Xavier School on Church Road.The blaze was spread accross electrical wiring and installations, an AC unit, household articles, sofa, bed, false ceiling, kitchen utensils and other items spread across around 4,000 sq ft in Flat numbers 1101 and 1102 on the 11th floor of the stilt-plus-11-storey building.Fire brigade personnel, police, electricity department officials, a 108 ambulance and ward staff were mobilised to the spot. The fire was brought under control at around 12.25am and completely extinguished by 1am.Eight injured people were reported in the incident. Two were taken to Cooper Hospital and six to Nanavati Hospital.According to doctors at Cooper Hospital, fireman Manoj Sonavane, 30, and Shivam Dwivedi, 29, were treated and discharged. Sonavane sustained injuries while responding to the fire.At Nanavati Hospital, two of the six injured were declared brought dead. They were identified as Abir, 2.5, and Ankita, 23.The other four admitted at Nanavati were identified as Parth, 32, Hiren, 64, Yashasvi, 33, and Abishek. Parth and Hiren were reported to be stable, while Yashasvi and Abishek were treated and discharged.The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

The MBBS tuition fee of the Sangli-based institute for the current academic year is yet to be finalised, but parents are expecting it to go up. Last year, the FRA had fixed the annual fee at Rs 8.64 lakh

Mumbai: Sangli-based Prakash Institute of Medical Sciences has become the second private medical college in the state to register under Section 8 of the Companies Act, nine years after Palghar’s Vedantaa Institute of Medical Sciences.While the college will continue to remain a private entity and be regulated by state bodies such as the Fee Regulatory Authority (FRA) and the state CET Cell, students will not be eligible for any government scholarship scheme.The MBBS tuition fee for the current academic year is yet to be finalised, but parents are expecting it to go up. Last year, the FRA had fixed the annual fee at Rs 8.64 lakh. A college official said the institution would continue with last year’s fee structure for now and revise it once the FRA finalises the fees. Any excess amount collected will be reimbursed to students, but if the revised fee is higher, they will have to pay the difference.The fees at Vedantaa Institute of Medical Sciences this year is fixed at Rs 17.13 lakh, the highest in the state among private colleges.Besides Prakash Institute, Loknete Rajaram Bapu Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, also managed by Prakash Shikshan Foundation, have transferred their ownership from trust-run institutions to companies.In a notification issued on Monday evening, the state CET Cell informed aspirants about the approval granted for the transfer of management of two institutes. The notification stated that students admitted to these institutions would not be eligible for any government scholarship, tuition fee concession or tuition fee reimbursement schemes.A source said it had become difficult to manage private institutions with fees being collected from less than 20% of its students as nearly 80% of the seats are covered under various government scholarship schemes, including those for girls, economically weaker sections and students from different categories. “While the government has extended these benefits to students, fee reimbursements from the government take a long time. There is always a delay in disbursing the amount, making it difficult for the college managements,” he said.Sudha Shenoy, a parent representative, said, “The government is at fault for pushing these colleges into companies or deemed institutions. They either extend part or full subsidies to students, but do not reimburse it on time. How can colleges survive with fees from less than 30% students? The government sometimes takes three to four years to reimburse these fees.”In 2024, colleges had refused to start postgraduate admissions in protest.Prakash College has been at loggerheads with the FRA for the last few years. In 2022, the college’s fee for MBBS was slashed to half based on its expenditure. Last year, the tuition fee for postgraduate courses ran into controversy. While the college demanded an annual fee of Rs 16 lakh for MD/MS courses, the FRA insisted that they charge Rs 10.5 lakh as ad-hoc fee for new courses.