Uddhav Thackeray meets Sharad Pawar, NCP says game on
Mumbai: The new-found bonhomie between the NCP and Shiv Sena was on display on Sunday after Uddhav Thackeray met Sharad Pawar at a Mumbai luxury hotel where NCP MLAs were lodged amid the high ongoing political drama in Maharashtra.
Incidentally, NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto dubbed Pawar, the 20-year-old party's founder, as 'Renaissance Man', even as Thackeray met the NCP chief at the suburban hotel bearing the same name.
"Hey #BJP, Game on. Our 'Renaissance Man' v/s your modern day so-called '#Chanakya'. Bring it on," Crasto tweeted.
Earlier in the day, NCP leader and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he would work hard for people of the state.
Responding to Ajit Pawar's tweet, Crasto tweeted, "Dear Ajit Dada, Nice to see you reply to our Hon. PM's good wishes but just want to remind you that you are being wished because you left the hands of the Man who held your hand & taught you how to walk in your personal & political life.
Wishing you the best for the future."
The Sena-NCP bonhomie was also seen after Shiv Sena leaders Eknath Shinde and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's Man Friday Milind Narvekar on Saturday caught Sanjay Bansod, NCP MLA from Udgir, who was set to fly out of Mumbai.
There was speculation that he was on his way to Delhi. The buzz on social media was Bansod was missing. Shinde and Narvekar had then taken Bansod to the Y B Chavan centre in south Mumbai where an NCP meet was underway.
In a stunning turn of events in Maharashtra, BJP's Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday returned as Chief Minister propped up by Ajit Pawar, who was made his deputy, just hours after the new alliance of Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress reached a consensus that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be their chief ministerial candidate.
The Shiv Sena approached the Supreme Court against the "arbitrary and malafide actions/decisions" of Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari of swearing in Fadnavis.
Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in by Koshyari at 8 am at a hush hush ceremony here after dramatic midnight developments, leading to the lifting of the President's rule in Maharashtra.
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Thane court sentences man to life imprisonment for bludgeoning wife to death
Thane (PTI): A court in Maharashtra's Thane district sentenced a man to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of his wife, whom he attacked 22 times with a hammer in front of his children, based on the testimony of his 13-year-old daughter.
Principal district and sessions judge S B Agrawal found the accused, Vijay Mishra alias Samir Shaikh, guilty under sections 302 (murder) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The court sentenced him to life imprisonment and a three-year term to be served concurrently. It also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh for the murder charge and an additional Rs 10,000 for injuring his minor daughter and mother-in-law, who had tried to intervene during the fatal attack.
Additional public prosecutor Rashmi Kshirsagar informed that 11 prosecution witnesses, including the accused's daughter, were examined during the trial.
According to the prosecution, the victim, Zarin Israr Ansari, had been living with her mother, along with her daughter and a six-year-old son, for two years following prolonged domestic violence and disputes.
The accused, who had converted to Islam to marry Zarin 14 years prior, harboured deep resentment over her living separately and suspected her character.
On the afternoon of September 28, 2023, the accused stormed into his mother-in-law's residence in Mumbra with a hammer concealed in a bag, cornered his wife on the mezzanine floor, dragged her down, locked the main door, and repeatedly bludgeoned her.
The court defended the testimony of the victim's 13-year-old daughter, who was an eyewitness and had sustained injuries herself, noting that minor inconsistencies do not degrade the core truth of an innocent child's account:
"...they are not of any significant consequence since it is not expected from such a witness of 10 years of age to have a total photographic memory to be reproduced before the court. But as far as the incident is concerned, evidence of this witness is totally free from any reasonable doubt."
The prosecution had also stated that the accused had locked his family inside and threatened a neighbour by brandishing a "bomb-like thing" and declaring he would blow up the building if anyone intervened.
The victim's brother eventually broke down the latched door, disarmed the accused, and pinned him down until the police arrived.
The post-mortem report revealed that the victim had suffered 22 brutal injuries and had died due to severe head wounds.
