Police custody of man accused of ‘duping CJI Bobde's mother of Rs 2.5 crore’ extended
Nagpur, Dec 17: A city court on Wednesday extended till December 21 police custody of the man arrested on charges of defrauding the mother of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Bobde to the tune of over Rs 2.50 crore.
Tapas Nandlal Ghosh (49), arrested last week, was produced before the sessions court by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the city police for custody extension.
Ghosh, his wife and some others are accused of cheating Mukta Bobde (94), the CJI's mother, over a period of time.
However, besides Ghosh, who looked after a prime property here owned by Mukta Bobde, no one else has been arrested in the case so far.
A police official said searches were conducted at the house of Ghosh, a city resident, after he was arrested on December 8.
The police have seized mobile phone and laptop of Ghosh and are also checking his bank accounts, he said.
As Ghosh's present police custody ended on Wednesday, the SIT produced him in the court.
After hearing arguments of prosecution and defence lawyers, the court extended his police custody till December 21.
The case relates to the management of Seasons Lawn, a property owned by the Bobde family. It is located adjacent to their ancestral bungalow in the Civil Lines area.
In 2007, Mukta Bobde had appointed Ghosh, a resident of Friends Colony, as the manager of the property, which is rented out for marriages and other functions, the police have said.
He was getting a monthly salary of Rs 9,000 and Rs 2,500 for every booking, they said.
After lockdown was imposed in March-end following the outbreak of coronavirus, persons who had booked the premises for different functions and wedding receptions, started demanding their money back, the police said.
Ghosh was allegedly reluctant to show the receipt book to the Bobdes and reveal transactions made by him with customers, they said.
The Rs 2.50 crore fraud came to light when the receipts and details of bank transactions from August 2017 to August 2020 were checked, the police said.
In August, when Mukta Bobde was unwell, one Kiran Vishnupant Deopujari (72) lodged a complaint on her behalf against Ghosh and his wife who, used to take bookings in his absence, and some other persons.
On the basis of the complaint, the police had registered a case against the accused under IPC sections related to cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery and common intention, among other.
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Indian startup's 'Drishti' satellite launched aboard SpaceX rocket
New Delhi (PTI): Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite was launched on Sunday aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from California.
Mission Drishti is the world's first OptoSAR satellite, integrating electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform, according to the company.
While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses.
In a statement, Suyash Singh, founder and CEO of GalaxEye, said, "With the satellite (Mission Drishti) now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload."
The satellite will help address long-standing limitations of conventional systems and enable more reliable and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions, the company said.
As a dual-use Earth observation satellite, the mission will support use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.
The satellite is also expected to complement India's broader initiatives, including the 29 active Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO's recent annual report.
The launch came after five years of indigenous research and development, and extensive environmental testing and performance validation of the Mission Drishti.
In a statement, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, "GalaxEye has achieved what only a few global players have, which is seamlessly combining optical and SAR capabilities on a single platform to enable persistent, all-weather intelligence."
What stands out is not just the technology, but its broader impact on how downstream applications will increasingly define value in the space economy, particularly in Earth observation, where timely, decision-grade insights are critical," he added.
ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took note of the Mission Drishti launch, saying the development marked a significant milestone in India's space journey.
In a post on X, the minister said, "The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and the largest privately-built satellite in the country, reflects the immense potential of our young innovators driving nation-building."
GalaxEye aims to scale up Mission Drishti to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030, developing a robust and sovereign Earth observation infrastructure for India.
