Mumbai Nalasopara Explosives Haul: Vaibhav Raut trained in Belgaum, suspects ATS
Mumbai: Investigations into the arrest of Sharad Kalaskar have revealed that all accused in the killings of Dr Narendra Dabholkar, M M Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and journalist Gauri Lankesh had obtained training at a resort in Karnataka’s Chikhale village. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, who are probing the Nalasopara explosives haul, are trying to ascertain if Vaibhav Raut and Sudhanva Gondhalekar too received training there.
During the ATS interrogation, Kalaskar confessed of being one of the assailants who shot Dr Dabholkar on August 20, 2013. In a simultaneous investigation conducted by the Karnataka’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) on the farmhouse owned by Bharat Kurne, a key suspect in journalist Gauri Lankesh murder case, found the farmhouse was allegedly used by the conspirators for firearms training.
The farmhouse is situated at Chikhale village in Belagum (Karnataka), where Kalaskar was recruited among others to get firearms training. Kalaskar was arrested by the ATS on August 10, in connection with the explosives found at Nalasopara between August 9-11. The police suspect the arrested accused has received training to fire the 7.65 mm pistols and other country-made revolvers.
The firearm training locations of Gondhalekar and Raut are yet to be ascertained, but the Maharashtra ATS strongly suspects them to have received firearm training at Belgaum. An ATS official said on the condition of anonymity said, “The ATS investigators have questioned Raut, Kalaskar and Gondhalekar regarding the training they received, but the trio did not confirm. Kalaskar leaked the intel on his firearm training only when the police cross-examined his role in Dr Dabholkar murder case and linked him to the Chikhale farmhouse owned by Kurne.”
A source close to the investigations added, the trio had travelled across the country to do a recce of various places, and one of their stops in this tour was Goa, which is close to Belgaum.
courtesy : freepressjournal.in
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
