Mumbai: The Dongri Police arrested a 32-year-old habitual conman who allegedly duped jewellery shop owners across Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai by posing as a customer, showing fake online payment confirmations and fleeing with gold ornaments.His arrest has led to the detection of seven similar offences registered across multiple police stations.The accused, identified as Rahul Prakash Karpe, 32 , a resident of Kalyan (East), was arrested by the Dongri Police Crime Detection Squad led by Assistant Police Inspector Jadhav and PSI Vyavhare following technical analysis and intelligence inputs.The arrest stems from a case registered at Dongri Police Station on June 27 under Section 305 of the BNS. Police said Karpe visited Lalchand Bhurmal Jewellers in Dongri posing as a customer. After selecting a gold ring weighing 5.210 grams worth ₹82,000, he paid ₹42,000 in cash and claimed to have transferred the remaining ₹40,000 through UPI. Using a fake payment application, he showed a false transaction confirmation and, while the shop owner was checking whether the amount had been credited, allegedly picked up the ring from the counter and fled.The accused had a unique modus operandi. After selecting a gold ring weighing 5.210 grams worth ₹82,000, he paid half the amount in cash and claimed to have transferred the remaining half through UPI. Using a fake payment application, he showed a false transaction confirmation and, while the shop owner was checking whether the amount had been credited, allegedly picked up the ring from the counter and fled.During a personal search after his arrest, police recovered ₹2,190 in cash and a 6.63-gram gold chain, which was found to be linked to a case registered at Manpada Police Station in Dombivli.During interrogation, Karpe allegedly confessed to committing similar offences in the jurisdictions of Dongri, Kalachowki, APMC, Navi Mumbai , Narpoli, Bhiwandi , Manpada, Dombivli , Kopri, Thane , and Kapurbawdi, Thane , police stations. Police are investigating whether he was involved in additional cases using the same modus operandi.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) has directed the state govt to pay Rs 17.95 lakh in compensation to a 23-year-old woman’s family for “violating her right to life” by denying her timely emergency care.The commission also noted that the pregnant woman’s delivery was conducted by doctors who were not trained in obstetrics, and that she was shuttled between hospitals due to the absence of doctors and a gynaecologist.The woman, Priyanka Navar, was registered for her delivery at the Watangi primary health centre (PHC) in Kolhapur district’s Ajara taluka and underwentthe required antenatal tests and sonography. Her pregnancy was progressing normally, with the expected date of delivery being Nov 24.Two days before the due date, she went into labour. The doctor at Watangi PHC advised that she be shifted to the Ajara Rural Hospital, but no doctor was available there. She was then brought back to the Watangi PHC, where the delivery took place.According to the family, they were shocked by what they saw inside the labour room. The mother was bleeding profusely, and the staff were unable to control the bleeding. The doctor was absent from the PHC and allegedly instructed on the phone that she be shifted to a private hospital. The private hospital, citing her critical condition, referred her to the govt hospital in Kolhapur, where she died during treatment.In his order, MSHRC member Sanjay Kumar (Retd IPS) noted that when the woman reached the Watangi PHC, the medical officer was absent and her delivery was conducted by two assistant medical officers who were not qualified to manage a critical obstetric emergency. Instead of immediately summoning a doctor, they attempted to manage the case themselves, delaying specialist intervention until the woman’s family raised an alarm. Only then did the doctor concerned reach the PHC.The MSHRC observed: “Although committees constituted to inquire into the alleged negligence, apathy and mismanagement during the delivery of Priyanka Navar gave clean chits to the doctors and medical staff involved, a chronological scrutiny of the incident and the treatment provided to the critically ill pregnant woman by different health institutions and medical officers clearly shows complete apathy, mismanagement and a casual approach in treating a critical patient, ultimately leading to her death.”

Mumbai: Five years after Father Stan Swamy died at a Mumbai hospital while in judicial custody, a memorial for him at a church in Bandra on Sunday saw civil rights activists trace his activism and recall his days in custody.The 84-year-old Jesuit priest and Adivasi rights activist died on July 5, 2021, nine months after the NIA arrested him in the Elgar Parishad case under the anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).Speaking at the meeting, advocate Mihir Desai said that fake police encounters are not only when police fire on an unarmed person, but similar trauma may occur when an old person with fragile health, unlikely to survive prolonged incarceration, gets arrested on allegedly false charges.Activist Irfan Engineer said Father Swamy was a rock-like obstruction to the design of crony capitalism in exploiting the forest resources and mining industry, especially in tribal areas where he made a name for himself as a staunch upholder of human rights. “For super profits and exploitation of natural resources, when indigenous people’s constitutional rights had to be trampled upon, Father Swamy would come to their defence,” Engineer said. Teesta Setalvad and Shakir Shaikh recalled the life and struggle of Father Swamy.The memorial meeting was organised by groups of NGOs led by Bombay Catholic Sabha and included Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Mumbai for Peace and Christian Development Association. Activists were in full attendance despite heavy rains.Advocate Susan Abraham, who represents several of his co-accused, recalled his sole court appearance in Oct 2020, when he rose, hands trembling from Parkinson’s, and told the judge, “I know nothing about the Elgar Parishad. I have never even been to Pune.” His bail plea was denied regardless.Shaikh of the APCR described a man with foreign degrees who could have lived in comfort, but instead moved 2,000 km from Tamil Nadu to rural Jharkhand, lived in his students’ homes and learned their language before taking up their cause.

Mumbai: In a significant setback to alleged online liquor sale networks, a Mumbai sessions court has refused anticipatory bail to a Khar-based wine shop licence holder, observing that the allegations disclose a “systematic and organised mechanism” for unauthorised online sale and home delivery of liquor rather than a mere technical breach of licence conditions.Rejecting the plea on July 3, Additional Sessions Judge P.A. Sable held that custodial interrogation was necessary as investigators were yet to uncover the full extent of the alleged racket, including electronic evidence, financial transactions, the operational framework and the roles of others involved. The court said such an investigation could not be effectively carried out if the accused was granted the “extraordinary protection” of anticipatory bail.Businessman Manish Srichand Pardasani, 53, had sought anticipatory bail in a case registered by the State Excise Department’s O Division under various provisions of the Maharashtra Prohibition Act, including Sections 65(a) and 65(e), over the alleged illegal online sale and distribution of liquor.According to the prosecution, liquor was allegedly sold through an online platform and delivered to customers using an app. It claimed Pardasani, as the licence holder, was vicariously liable for his employees’ acts and had facilitated the alleged illegal operation. The prosecution also argued that unauthorised home delivery raised the risk of adulteration, posing a threat to public health and safety.The court observed that the allegations pointed to an organised commercial operation requiring recovery and verification of electronic evidence, tracing of financial transactions and identification of all those involved. It added that the availability of some records with the Excise Department did not rule out the need for custodial interrogation.The court also considered the applicant’s criminal antecedents, observing that while past cases alone could not justify denial of bail, they were relevant in assessing the possibility of repetition of similar offences and interference with the investigation.The defence argued that the allegations were vague, relevant records had already been furnished, the applicant had cooperated with investigators and custodial interrogation was unnecessary. The court, however, held that the precedents cited by the defence were distinguishable and that the seriousness of the allegations, the need for custodial interrogation and the possibility of interference with the probe justified rejection of anticipatory bail.Excise officials said they have intensified action against alleged illegal online liquor sales, claiming such operations pose regulatory and public safety challenges. An Excise Department official further alleged that a leading online liquor platform operated an organised illegal network through around 50 outlets across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, using call centres to receive orders, and claimed nearly 40 outlets had earlier been temporarily shut over alleged online liquor sales and related licence violations. The allegations remain under investigation and have not been adjudicated by the court.

Vedant Sawant died after being electrocuted by a metal ladder inside his Nalasopara residence that became live due to an inverter-related electrical fault on Saturday

Thane: A 20-year-old college student, Vedant Sawant, died after being electrocuted by a metal ladder inside his Nalasopara residence that became live due to an inverter-related electrical fault on Saturday. His death brought the monsoon-linked electrocution toll across Mumbai Metropolitan Region to six in the past one week.Four of the six deaths were caused by electrical leakages inside private premises, while two occurred after the victims allegedly came into contact with live power distribution wires while wading through waterlogged roads.Saturday’s incident took place when Sawant returned to his Shri Samarth Chawl residence from college in the afternoon. Pelhar police said the ladder leading to the loft inside the house had become live due to an electrical fault involving the inverter. As the ladder was wet because of rainwater, Sawant suffered a fatal electric shock the moment he touched it. He was rushed to Tulinj Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Police have filed an accidental death report.Two deaths were reported on July 2. A 45-year-old labourer, Noor Salaam Mohsin, got electrocuted at an under-construction building site in Ulwe after he touched the first-floor flat’s kitchen window grille on which an electrical wire was carelessly hung, and Gyan Sagar Mishra (29), a helper working under an electrical supervisor, died after suffering a severe electric shock from a transformer cable in Naigaon East.On July 1, 17-year-old Aliya Chandiwala from Mumbra and Shashi Chakra, 42-year-old mother of two from Dombivli, were electrocuted in separate incidents after coming into contact with live electric current when wading through waterlogged roads near their homes, while a worker in a Bhiwandi warehouse died after accidentally coming into contact with an exposed live wire. The same day, two college girls — Ujwala Wagh (18) and Shubhangi Nalawade (16) — fell unconscious after suffering severe electric shocks from an underground exposed live electrical wire while wading through a waterlogged stretch of the Mumbai carriageway of the Sion-Panvel highway near Nerul flyover.With electrocution cases on the rise, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has issued a detailed public safety advisory and appeal for caution during the rainy season.It has advised citizens not to touch damp electrical appliances, switchboards or walls, avoid handling electrical devices with wet hands, and immediately switch off the main power supply if water leakage is noticed near electricity meters. Consumers have also been advised to replace outdated wiring, ensure proper earthing of high-power appliances, use only ISI-certified electrical materials and get old wiring inspected by licensed electricians. For outdoor safety, the utility has appealed to citizens to stay away from snapped or sagging power lines, damaged electricity poles, transformers and open fuse boxes, particularly during heavy rain and flooding.MSEDCL officials said extensive preventive maintenance is carried out before every monsoon, including pruning trees near power lines, tightening loose conductors and repairing vulnerable sections of the network. However, severe weather continues to pose challenges. “Entire trees sometimes collapse during storms or objects may strike overhead power lines due to strong winds, causing wires to snap. Underground cable faults are also difficult to repair when areas remain waterlogged. In such situations, power supply is temporarily disconnected until it is safe for our teams to carry out restoration work,” an official said.M V Deshmukh, former director and fire safety adviser to the Maharashtra government, said public awareness remains the first line of defence. “Residents should avoid walking through waterlogged areas, especially if there are transformers, open junction boxes or damaged electrical cables nearby. Standing water can become energised if it comes into contact with faulty electrical equipment or live wires. Such hazards should be immediately reported to the electricity utility or civic authorities,” he said.Deshmukh also recommended the use of thermal scanners and infrared imaging to detect hidden faults in electrical infrastructure before they result in accidents.Meanwhile, Thane Municipal Corporation said it has inspected more than 50,000 streetlights ahead of the monsoon and repaired 272 defective units that posed potential risks. Civic officials, however, said theft and vandalism of electrical fittings, particularly copper components, continue to create safety hazards despite repeated alerts to the police.A Torrent Power official, whose network serves over 3.2 lakh consumers in Mumbra and adjoining areas, said emergency teams remain on alert throughout the monsoon and power supply is disconnected immediately in severely waterlogged locations to prevent accidents.MSEDCL has appealed to citizens to cooperate whenever electricity supply is temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure during heavy rain or flooding. It has also urged consumers to report snapped wires, fallen poles, transformer fires or any other electrical emergency through its 24-hour toll-free helplines 1912, 19120, 1800-233-3435 and 1800-212-3435, or by giving a missed call from their registered mobile number to 022-50897100 to report power supply disruptions.