Thane (PTI): Two unidentified individuals posed as crime branch officials and tricked a 70-year-old man into removing his gold ornaments worth Rs 70,000 in Thane district, police said on Monday.

The incident occurred on August 24 at around 11:15 a.m., when the victim, Damodar Patil, was travelling in a car on the Nashik-Mumbai highway near Lodha Dham.

The suspects stopped Patil's car under the pretext of security checking and instructed him to remove his gold ornaments, wrap them in paper, and place them in the car's dashboard drawer.

While engaging Patil in conversation, the duo switched the wrapped ornaments with a package containing stones. The men then left the scene, and Patil later discovered the deception when he checked the package, police stated.

An FIR has been registered at the Narpoli police station on a complaint lodged by Patil under sections 318(4) (cheating), 204 (personating a public servant), and 3(5) (a criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). The police are investigating the incident, but no arrests have been made so far.

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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.