Mumbai pub tragedy: FIRs lodged, 'look-out notices' for absconders
Mumbai: Cracking the whip, the Mumbai police on Saturday lodged three new FIRs against various pub owners and issued a lookout notice for the absconders in wake of the blaze in Kamala Mills Compound which left 14 dead and 55 injured, an official said.
Police have also set up five teams to trace the owners of 1Above pub, Hitesh Sanghvi, his brother Jigar Sanghvi and partner Abhijit Manka, and Yug Pathak, a co-owner of of The Mojos Bistro, who is the son of a retired IPS officer.
Simultaneously, police have issued "look-out notice" to prevent them from leaving the country, while police teams have gone to Pune and other cities to hunt for them, the official said.
Additionally, following a complaint by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act (MRTP), police have lodged a FIR against the owner of Kamala Mills, Ramesh Govani and others who are still not traceable.
In an action-packed day, teams of the BMC demolition squads swooped down on scores of hotels, restaurants, pubs, eateries and other places where people are likely to converge for New Year Eve parties with hammers and crowbars to raze illegal structures.
In what is billed as the single biggest demolitions in a day, several illegal constructions were razed at major locations within the Kamala Mills Compound and the adjacent Raghuvanshi Mills and Phoenix Mills complexes, and other places in the city and suburbs.
According to a BMC official, who declined to be named, Saturday's mega-demolition drive covered around 200 locations across Mumbai, but largely concentrated in Lower Parel-Mahalaxmi areas.
The demolition squads targeted illegal extensions to premises, decorative arches and metal grilles inside or outside, double-triple or revolving doors, raised entrances/exits, ornamental fixtures and fittings, massive flower pots or plants, unauthorized temporary roofs, walls, partitions, any external/internal obstacles to free movements, etc, which could prove to be a safety hazard in case of any emergency like Friday's fire.
The erstwhile 50-plus textile mills which used to churn out lakhs of metres of cotton fabrics daily, went silent after the Great Bombay Textile strike of 1982. Spread across prime real estate of more than 500 acres in south-central Mumbai, they have now been transformed into glittering corporate, media, communications, glamour and eating hubs, besides some of the tallest and most expensive residential and commercial towers in the vicinity.
BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta has already set up 25 teams which will inspect implementation of safety norms at all hotels, restaurants, bars, pubs, malls in the sprawling Kamala Mills Compound and other surrounding areas in Lower Parel.
In fact, the preliminary inspection by the BMC on Friday detected an unauthorized partition wall and two rooms, besides an illegal plastic roof supported with bamboos which was reduced to ashes in the early Friday morning blaze.
Amidst a public uproar with the fire incident figuring in Parliament on Friday, the BMC suspended five officials including a fire brigade officer, hours after the conflagration.
Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam on Saturday however termed the ongoing demolitions as "a mere eyewash" in view of the public anger and demanded the suspension of the BMC commissioner for the lapses over which he is presiding.
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Radhakrisha Vikhe-Patil, who demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, called for removal of Mehta and holding him responsible for Friday's tragedy.
Incidentally, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activist Mangesh Kashalkar, a social activist Ilyas Ejaz Khan and RTI activist Anil Galgali said they have lodged several complaints against the illegalities perpetrated in the commercial establishments in Lower Parel-Mahalaxmi area, but the BMC officials ignored them.
Mumbai police went into high security mode on Saturday with stringent bandobast, catching all those violating traffic rules, carrying random checking of vehicles, setting up roadblocks, detecting inebriated drivers and other offences in preparation for the New Year's Eve celebrations on Sunday.
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BJP candidate Madhavi Latha asks burqa-clad women to lift veil at voting booth, sparks controversy
Hyderabad: The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India after a video surfaced showing BJP's Lok Sabha candidate for Hyderabad, K Madhavi Latha, allegedly checking the identity documents of burqa-clad women at a polling booth and asking them to lift their veil.
Latha and Owaisi are contesting against each other in Hyderabad, with Owaisi having won the seat by a significant margin in the last Lok Sabha elections.
Following her own voting at Amrita Vidyalaya, Latha visited several polling booths and stopped at one in Azampur, where she reportedly began checking IDs of women waiting to vote. In the video, she is seen requesting a burqa-clad woman to lift her veil, which the woman complies with.
Latha also instructed polling officials to ensure proper checking of ID cards before allowing voting, citing discrepancies in the voter list and missing names of several voters.
This isn't the first time Latha has courted controversy. Earlier, on April 17, a video allegedly showed her symbolically shooting an arrow towards a mosque during a Sri Rama Navami rally. She later apologized, stating the video was incomplete.
As the recent video went viral on social media, Latha responded, stating, "It has come to my notice that one video of mine is being circulated in the media to create negativity. I would like to clarify that it is an incomplete view, and even if anyone's sentiments are hurt because of such a video, I would like to apologize as I respect all individuals."
The video did not go well with the netizens as they criticised the Election Commission for their inaction .
“What's happening here? Who is she to verify the voters? She is not authorized to check and verify the identity of the voters. Only the presiding officers can do that.
@ECISVEEP, are you still sleeping?”
“Who gave this joker an authority to verify the voters? Let the authorized officers do their job. Election commission, wake up.”
Who gave this joker an authority to verify the voters?
— Shoaib Mohammed (@shoaibpage) May 13, 2024
Let the authorized officers do their job. Election commission, wake up. https://t.co/wJnyK2BKvN
Another user tweeted :
“Who authorised her to verify voters?
Where is the administration ?
Hello @ECISVEEP what's your say on this?”
Who authorised her to verify voters❓
— Rishi Choudhary 🇮🇳 (@RishiRahar) May 13, 2024
Where is the administration ❓
Hello @ECISVEEP what's your say on this❓
Later a case was registered at the Malakpet Police Station under sections 171C, 186, 505(1)(c) of IPC and Section 132 of the Representation of the People Act.
A case is registered in Malakpet Police Station against Smt Madhavi Latha, Contesting candidate, BJP under sections 171C, 186, 505(1)(c) of IPC and Section 132 of the Representation of the People Act
— Collector Hyderabad (@Collector_HYD) May 13, 2024
In Telangana, brisk voting was reported for the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies, with high turnout in areas like Adilabad, Zahirabad, Khammam, Mahabubabad, and Nalgonda, while lagging in Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
