5 killed, 42 injured as bus ferrying pilgrims hits tractor on Mumbai-Pune Expressway
Mumbai (PTI): At least five persons were killed and 42 others injured when a bus carrying pilgrims hit a tractor on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, police said on Tuesday.
The bus was ferrying 54 'warkaris' (devotees of Lord Vitthal) who were on their way to Pandharpur for the Ashadhi Ekadashi celebrations from their hometown Dombivli in Thane district near Mumbai, they said.
The accident took place at around midnight near Panvel in Navi Mumbai, an official said.
While on the expressway, the speeding bus hit the tractor.
Three passengers from the bus and two from the tractor were killed, DCP Vivek Pansare said, adding that a woman was among the deceased.
After hitting the tractor, the bus rammed into a barricade of the expressway and fell into a 20-feet-deep gorge, the official said.
The injured pilgrims were rushed to a private hospital for treatment. The condition of seven of them was serious, he said.
Ashadhi Ekadashi will be celebrated on Wednesday.
Lakhs of warkaris undertake the pilgrimage every year to Pandharpur, where they converge on the Ashadhi Ekadashi from all parts of Maharashtra.
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Bank account in Ramgarh tracked for fraudulent fund transactions across 24 states, 4 arrested
Ramgarh (Jharkhand) (PTI): Jharkhand police on Thursday said it has unearthed a network of interstate cyber frauds and arrested four miscreants for fraudulent transactions through a bank account in Ramgarh district after complaints of 274 suspected transactions in 24 states.
The states where complaints for fraudulent transactions were registered included Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
The action followed inputs received through 'Samanvaya portal', a centralised, web-based platform launched by the Union Home Ministry to curb cybercrime.
"We arrested four cyber miscreants after a current account with Kuju (Ramgarh) branch of the State Bank of India was found to have registered suspected financial transactions in 24 states with the help of the Pratibimba portal of the Home Ministry through the Samanvaya portal," Ramgarh Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Lunayat said.
During the probe, police found that the account was opened under the MSME Udyam Registration scheme in the name of Shree Ganesh Enterprises, he said.
The account had been linked to as many as 274 complaints from different states related to cyber fraud and illegal fund transfers.
The registered proprietors of the enterprise were identified as Rahul Gupta (37), Ravi Kumar Verma (34), and Ajay Sharma (33), all residents of Ramgarh district, a statement from the Ramgarh police said.
During interrogation, Rahul Gupta and Ravi Kumar Verma revealed that they had opened multiple current accounts at the behest of Ritesh Agrawal alias Munna (40) and Sonu Kumar Jha (34).
They admitted receiving Rs 1.2 lakh in exchange for facilitating the opening of these accounts.
"The accused further confessed to sharing OTPs, activating mobile banking services, and handing over control of the accounts to the main operators through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. These accounts were then allegedly used to route fraudulent transactions.
Police said mobile data analysis of the accused led to the recovery of crucial digital evidence, including details of SIM cards, bank accounts, passbooks, ATM cards, QR code scanners, Aadhaar cards, and PAN cards shared through messaging platforms.
A total of four accused have been arrested so far and sent to judicial custody.
A case has been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Further investigation is underway, the police said.
