Mumbai: A Chennai homemaker filed a police complaint on Monday after she found valuables worth Rs 49,000 missing from her bag after travelling on an Air India flight from Mumbai to Chennai on July 29.Sahar police registered an FIR against an unknown person but did not track down the accused and suspected the theft occurred while the bag was sent for cargo loading. The complainant, Hajira Abutahir (36), flew to Mumbai specially to file the complaint after flying to Chennai 10 days ago.Since 2024, over two dozen thefts have reportedly occurred inside the two Mumbai airports, but not a single case has been solved and no thief has been caught. Sahar police probed at least 10 thefts registered between Jan and Aug 2016. The last theft of baggage was registered on Aug 2 and was filed by a first-year MBBS student who is an Irish national.“We have sought CCTV footage from the airport authorities and other agencies to track the case. There are 10 pending cases this year alone. The team is gathering information of all the loaders and other staffs hired from third party agencies whose role is suspected to be in the crime. Probe is also on to find out whether these suspects carry any scanner to identify the valuables from the passengers baggage to steal before loaded into the flight,” said a police officer of Sahar police station.The Chennai resident said two gold earrings, one gold ring with a floral design, and a silver anklet, collectively valued at Rs 49,000, were stolen in Mumbai after she handed over the bag for cargo and boarded the flight. “On reaching my Chennai I checked my baggage and found the valuables missing. I went to Chennai Airport and checked the entire CCTV footage, and it was found that there was no tampering with my bag. But the valuables was missing and is confirmed stolen in Mumbai airport,” said Abutahir in the FIR.Abutahir visited Mumbai’s Dharavi locality on July 18 after her brother Abdulrazzak had a son. “I stayed at my maternal home for a few days. On July 29 at 7 pm, I left Dharavi in my brother’s car for the airport. I deposited my grey suitcase and a black bag at the Air India checking counter at the airport. However, the following valuables was stolen at Mumbai airport after the bags were given to load for cargo in the flight,” she said in the FIR.The theft was reported a week after a first-year MBBS student and Irish citizen reported that her baggage containing clothes, make-up sets and other items went missing at Mumbai International Airport in June. The student, Harshita Agarwal (19), was on a two-month vacation and travelled to Mumbai to visit her maternal uncle’s home in Jalna in June. The case was registered at Sahar police station on Aug 2 after Jalna police took Agarwal’s complaint two weeks earlier and transferred the case file to Mumbai for further probe.“As the incident occurred almost a month and a half ago, our team have sought the CCTV footage to track down the person who took Agarwal’s baggage,” said a police officer of Sahar police station.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 6:15 am and 8:30 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 Rs 5.5 lakh, 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 Rs 1.25 lakh 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.

Mumbai: In the early hours of Wednesday, around 3.48 am, amid the ongoing wet spell, residents of Ashok Nagar in Ghatkopar, a landslide-prone area of approximately 1,000 residents, were jolted awake by the sound of debris and boulders crashing down the hillside. A large peepal tree was also uprooted in the incident, which claimed seven lives and left seven others injured.Civic data shows Mumbai has seen 95 landslide incidents over the past six years, resulting in 39 deaths and 28 injuries.Among the deceased in Wednesday’s tragedy are Arif Halim Shaikh (28), his wife Marjina Arif Shaikh (27) and their two children Aban Arif Shaikh (2) and Mannat Arif Shaikh (4). The Shaikh family had reportedly arrived in Mumbai from Uttar Pradesh just four days ago. Another deceased was Viket alias Rahul Yadav, who was helping his widowed mother meet the family’s expenses. The two other deceased were Sahil Husain Abdul Kadri (19) and Mohammed Sayeed Ansari (14). The seven injured were Sohail Ansari (18), Mohamad Ansari (14), Naimuddhin Iqbal Khan (28), Sajid Ansari (16), Farana Dilber Khan (28), Dilber Amnulla Khan (38) and Shamin Muslim Khan (26).Rescue teams who reached the spot found that around eight people were initially feared trapped under the debris. A search and rescue operation was immediately launched in the presence of the local ward-level officials, NDRF personnel, local police and fire brigade officials. Around 70-75 personnel, including BMC workers, private contractor workers, fire brigade personnel and NDRF teams, were involved in the operation. By 2 pm, a total of seven bodies had been recovered from the debris and sent to Rajawadi Hospital, Ghatkopar, and civic-run Bhabha Hospital in Kurla for postmortem.Since the landslide occurred before daylight, it made the initial rescue operation particularly difficult. “The congested and narrow lanes leading to the affected houses added to the challenge, with rescue machinery unable to reach the site easily. NDRF and fire brigade personnel had to form human chains to move debris and carry out the search operation,” said additional municipal commissioner Avinash Dhakane, who was also at the disaster site, adding that the disaster site was so narrow that it allowed only one person to pass at a time.BMC authorities also pointed out that residents in this vulnerable location had previously been warned and advised to move to safer areas during the monsoon, when the risk of landslides increases. Officials suspect that the recent spell of rain may have weakened the rocks and soil on the hillock. Continuous rainfall over the past two days could have seeped into the rocks and weakened the rock and root systems, triggering the collapse of boulders and the uprooting of the tree.Locals said the houses at the lower end of the landslide-prone hillock were the worst affected, as debris and boulders came hurtling down from the upper portion of the slope directly onto the structures below. Anil Sandade, an idli maker operating from Ghatkopar railway station who lived in the area, said, “The boulders came falling from three separate sides leading to some entrances into the locality completely getting blocked.” Sandade (45) said he was born in the same area and hence believes the locality could be easily around five decades old.Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde, who visited the site, announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of each person who lost their life in the incident. She also announced Rs 50,000 in medical assistance for each injured person to help cover treatment expenses.Assistant municipal commissioner of L ward Anil Jadhav said that the entire area was on collector land. “Only houses before 2011 are protected structures while the remaining are all illegal,” said Jadhav.Ghatkopar police have registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) in connection with the landslide. Police personnel were present at the site and assisted the fire brigade and other agencies in the rescue operation. “We have recovered seven bodies, while the injured have been shifted to various government hospitals. After receiving information that some more houses in the vicinity were located in a danger zone, we, along with BMC officials, evacuated around 50 houses. The affected families have been shifted to accommodation arranged by the BMC or to the homes of relatives,” said DCP Ganesh Shinde (Zone 7).Police said relatives of the Arif family have requested that the bodies of all four family members be taken to their native place in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh. The police are facilitating the necessary permissions and procedures for transporting the bodies.

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.

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

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.

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.