Mumbai, Mar 14: Five persons were killed and 29 injured after a major portion of a foot overbridge near a train station in south Mumbai collapsed Thursday evening, officials said.
The bridge which connected the area near the Times of India building with the iconic CSMT station was commonly known as 'Kasab bridge' as the 26/11 Mumbai attack terrorist passed through it during the terror strike.
On 26/08 two terrorists with armed weapons had attacked mumbai civilians, entered into city through this foot overbridge CST terminus.
They used AK-47 and grenades in their attack , killing 58 people and injuring 104 citizens.
In today's incident, all the injured have been rushed to nearby hospitals, a disaster management cell official said.
An eyewitness said when the bridge collapsed, there was a red light at the nearby signal, and that is why the death toll was not more.
Another eyewitness said the overbridge was being used despite repairs being carried out this morning.
The incident took place around 7.30 pm when a major portion of the bridge caved in, the official said.
Some motorists who were passing beneath the bridge when it came down, were among those injured, he added.
"Fire brigade personnel reached the spot immediately and rescue work is in full swing. We have appealed the motorists to avoid the D N road to JJ flyover section," he said.
"Foot over bridge connecting CST platform 1 north end with B T Lane near Times of India building has collapsed.
Injured persons are being shifted to hospitals. Traffic affected. Commuters to use alternate routes. Senior officers are on spot, Mumbai police tweeted.
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New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
