Two try to smuggle teen into Mexico, arrested at airport

MUMBAI: The crime intelligence unit (CIU) of Mumbai Police on Wednesday arrested two persons from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport CSMIA), for attempting to illegally transport a 15-year-old boy from Jalandhar to Mexico. Preliminary investigations revealed the boy’s relatives live in the US and the accused planned to send him there from Mexico.

Manipal Harsholiya, 48, and Shailendra Deshawal, 53, work as carriers to send children abroad using fake documents. “The accused were travelling on fake documents,” said police deputy commissioner (crime branch), Dilip Sawant. Harsholiya and Deshawal, along with the teen reached CSMIA on Tuesday from Delhi. The immigration department suspected their passports were fake and questioned the trio.

“The accused confessed the boy’s parents had agreed to pay ₹20 lakh to send their son to the US,” said a police officer. MUMBAI: The petitioner against 16% quota to the Maratha community informed the Bombay high court (HC) that the Maharashtra State Backward Classes Commission (MSBCC) report recommending reservation was fallacious and politically driven.

Senior counsel Pradip Sancheti, appearing for petitioner, advocate Sanjeet Shukla, referred to the reports of previous commissions which either said that Marathas did not need reservations, or that the community was only economically and educationally backward. He noted that MSBCC did not consider these findings and recommended carving out a separate category under the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC).

He pointed out that MSBCC had based its recommendations after surveying only 43,000 persons.

This, he said, was indicative of a political motive behind the need to recommend Maratha reservation.

Sancheti drew attention to the report which said that while 37.28% Marathas were living below the poverty line, 32.28% of Kunbis and 40.93% of other backward classes also fell in the same category.

He thus noted that the conclusion of the commission that Marathas needed reservation was erroneous as the figures were much higher than the state average of 24.4%. Thus the report had made a mathematical error.

The hearing will continue on Friday after which the state government and petitioners supporting the reservation will be given a hearing from February 20 to 22.