EXCONG MINISTER ANANDRAO DEVKATE DIES
MUMBAI: Senior Congress leader and former state minister Anandrao Devkate died on Friday at his native residence in Solapur district after a brief illness, the party said. He was 86. Devkate was the minister of state for dairy development from 1999 to 2003 in the Congress-ncp government, led by Vilasraodeshmukh. State Congress chief Ashok Chavan and leader of Opposition in the Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhepatil condoled Devkate’s demise. Chavan said the party had lost a grassroots leader. “His contribution was immense in socio, political and cooperative fields in Maharashtra. Due to his grassroots contact and efficiency he got to represent his constituency for five consecutive times,” Chavan said.
2 booked for stealing truck, iron rods worth ₹2 lakh
THANE: The Shildaighar police on Friday booked a truck driver and a cleaner have been booked for stealing truck and iron rods worth ₹2 lakh. Police said the truck driver and cleaner are suspected to be hiding in Uttar Pradesh. Their identities have not been revealed by the police. The duo was given a truck loaded with iron rods to sell in Delhi market but the accused fled away with the vehicle. When the owner called them, there was no response from them even after two days. The owner then approached to police station and lodged a case against the driver and cleaner.
Thane traffic cop arrested while taking ₹5K bribe
THANE: A sub-inspector of the traffic police was arrested on Friday for allegedly accepting bribe to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) for a vehicle, an anti-corruption bureau (ACB) official said. Sub-inspector Atmaram Patil, 54, had demanded ₹8,000 from the owner of the vehicle who wanted an NOC for a transport vehicle ferrying over-dimensional cargo, the ACB said in a press release. The amount was brought down to ₹5,000 through negotiations and Patil was caught red-handed while accepting the money after the ACB laid a trap following the vehicle owner’s complaint. Patil has been arrested under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and further probe was underway, the ACB official said.
Tobacco worth ₹21 lakh seized from Palghar
MUMBAI: A huge stock of banned pan masala and scented tobacco worth ₹21 lakh was seized from the Palghar district on the Mumbai-ahmedabad highway on Wednesday. One person was arrested in the case, a police officer said. The accused, Janardan Gaikwad, 36, a Beed resident was arrested by the Kasa police for transporting the banned items towards Mumbai in a tempo, Palghar police spokesperson Hemant Kumar Katkar said. “The tempo was intercepted at Ghol check post and 1,600 boxes pan masala besides 3,840 boxes of scented tobacco worth ₹20.73 lakh were seized,” he said.