Goa Speaker grants one month's time to turncoat MLAs Kamat, Lobo to reply to disqualification plea
Panaji (PTI): Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Friday granted 30 days' time to MLAs Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo, who had quit the Congress and joined the BJP earlier this year, to file their replies on the disqualification petition moved against them by the grand old party.
The disqualification petition came up for hearing before the speaker on Friday, after which both the respondents - Kamat and Lobo - sought 30 days to reply to it. Their request was approved.
In September this year, former chief minister Kamat, the then Leader of Opposition Lobo and six other Congress MLAs had joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), giving a body blow to the opposition party.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Amit Patkar had filed the petition against his former party colleagues Kamat and Lobo seeking their disqualification.
Talking to reporters, Tawadkar said, "During the hearing of the petition on Friday, both the respondents - Kamat and Lobo - sought a time of 30 days to reply, which was granted."
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
