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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo faces multiple allegations of sexual harassment, sixth woman comes forward

OpIndia Staff
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo faces multiple allegations of sexual harassment, sixth woman comes forward

Another woman has come forward and accused New York governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment, making it the sixth such allegation against him.

According to the reports, the victim, a member of the Executive Chamber staff, alleged that Cuomo had sexually assaulted her after inviting her to the governor’s mansion on work. The aide said that Cuomo touched her inappropriately late last year. 

Meanwhile, Cuomo has responded to the allegation by claiming that he is unaware of the latest allegation. His comments came after the governor’s office was made aware of the latest allegations against the controversial democrat, who was elected as the New York Governor in 2011. As per reports, the information has already been passed to Attorney General Letitia James, who is overseeing an investigation into Cuomo’s workplace conduct.

Sexual harassment allegations against New York governor Andrew Cuomo

Several women who have worked with Cuomo have alleged they were sexually harassed or subjected to the governor’s demeaning behaviour. Five out of the six women, who have accused Cuomo of inappropriate behaviour, have worked alongside him in the past. 

First, Lindsey Boylan, a former economic development director, had said Cuomo commented on her looks, summoned her to unnecessary meetings, joked that they should play strip poker and once kissed her on the lips at the end of a meeting.

A few days later, another victim Charlotte Bennett, a onetime aide, said the governor had once told her about his hunt for a girlfriend. Bennet had said that Cuomo had asked her about her sex life and whether she would be open to a relationship with an older man. Another former aide, Ana Liss, had alleged that Cuomo kissed her on the hand and cheek and made flirtatious comments.

Separately, Karen Hinton, who worked with Cuomo, said the New York governor had invited her to his hotel room during a work trip to California. He asked her personal questions about her marriage and hugged her repeatedly in a “too long, too tight, too intimate” manner.

Similarly, 33-year-old Anna Ruch had also alleged the governor made unwanted advances toward her and planted an unsolicited kiss on her cheek at a 2019 wedding.

‘I will not resign’, says Cuomo as pressure mounts

As a consequence of several sexual harassment cases, the controversial New York Governor has been facing increasing pressure for resignation. Not just from the public, even top Democrats have been demanding the resignation, and some have withdrawn their support for Cuomo.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins became the first senior Democrat in the state to demand Cuomo’s resignation. In a statement, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said, “It is time for the Governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York”.

Meanwhile, Cuomo has remained defiant, suggesting it would be “anti-democratic” for him to step down. “There is no way I resign. Let’s do the attorney general’s investigation, let’s get the findings, let’s go from there,” he said.

Cuomo under heat for mismanagement for COVID-19 in New York

In addition to the sexual harassment charges, Andrew Cuomo has also faced heat for his mishandling of the coronavirus crisis in New York.

The New York governor has been accused of conspiring to cover-up Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes as the pandemic hit his state last year. The allegations are that New York under-reported deaths in nursing homes by as much as half. Nearly 9,250 deaths of residents were allegedly wiped-off from the record. A federal investigation has also been ordered to look into the irregularities in New York nursing homes.

More than 1.7 million COVID-19 case were reported from New York, and nearly 50,000 deaths were reported in the state due to the Chinese pandemic. The huge deaths in New York were attributed to the mishandling of coronavirus pandemic in the state by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Artist Subhaprasanna, who had valued paintings by Mamata Banerjee, summoned by ED in Saradha chit fund case

OpIndia Staff
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Artist Subhaprasanna, who had valued paintings by Mamata Banerjee, summoned by ED in Saradha chit fund case

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned artist Subhaprasanna in connection with the Saradha scam case. The artist has been asked to appear before the ED for questioning on 15th March.

Subhaprasanna confirmed before media that he has received the summon from the ED. However, he didn’t confirm whether he will attend the questioning.

The artist was earlier questioned multiple times by ED and CBI in the Sarada chit fund scam case. Subhaprasanna is known to be close to Trinamool Congress, and also had links with the Saradha Group. He is being probed into the chit fund case regarding certain financial transactions done with the Saradha Group through his bank account. The transactions were linked to buying a television channel, and the probe agencies have found irregularities in those transactions.

The artist is also being probed over the paintings of Mamata Banerjee sold at very high prices. During the probe into the Saradha case, CBI had found that Saradha promoter Sudipto Sen had bought a painting by the West Bengal CM for a whopping Rs 1.8 crore. It is alleged that Sudipto Sen and many others were forced to purchase paintings by Mamata Banerjee at very high prices.

Allegedly, artist Subhaprasanna was involved in valuation of the paintings, which many believe were overpriced. According to the probe agencies, apart from fixing the prices, the artist had also named the paintings and was involved in their sales.

The ED has also summoned East Bengal Club official Debabrata Sarkar in connection with the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. Earlier this month, the agency had questioned TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh for questioning in the case.

While trying to mock Modi supporters, ‘comedian’ Mohit Morani mocks the Kashmiri Pandit exodus

OpIndia Staff
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While trying to mock Modi supporters, ‘comedian’ Mohit Morani mocks the Kashmiri Pandit exodus

‘Stand-up comedians’ have often resorted to attacking PM Modi and his supporters to make up for their unfunny jokes. ‘Comedian’ Mohit Morani also seems to have done the same thing in his gig where he mocked PM Modi’s supporters. The video of the gig was uploaded on YouTube last month wherein Morani could be seen mocking PM Modi’s supporters. However, in making fun of PM Modi and his supporters, he was seen throwing jokes at the Kashmiri Pandit exodus.

In the video titled “Modi Bhakt Roommate”, Morani narrates about a supporter of PM Modi who is associated with the BJP.

Morani says when his roommate received a call from a certain Abdul from the HDFC Bank, he bawled him out saying, “Why are you talking now? Did you speak up when Kashmiri Pandits were expelled from Jammu and Kashmir?”

In a bid to mock PM Modi’s supporters, Morani showed that he has no qualms in making fun of the trauma and anguish suffered by the expelled Kashmiri Pandits. Instead, their exodus was used by him to make a joke on PM Modi’s supporters that was not even funny, not by a long shot. In an attempt to make jokes, the comedian seems to have forgotten than thousands of Kashmiri Pandits were driven away from their homes by radical Islamists after a brutal spree of mass-murders, burning and rapes. The Pandits still remain refugees in their own country.

Comedian Samay Raina uses Kashmiri Pandit exodus to rant against the Indian judicial system

It is pertinent to note that Morani is not the first comedian to mock and trivialise the genocide faced by the Kashmiri Pandits. Earlier in January 2021, ‘comedian’ Samay Raina flippantly cited the 31st anniversary of the Kashmiri Pandit genocide to rant against the Indian judicial system for the continued incarceration of ‘comedian’ Munawar Faruqui, who was arrested earlier for allegedly making indecent remarks against Hindu gods, the Godhra incident and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Samay Raina, ostensibly a Kashmiri Pandit, tweeted, “Today marks 31 years of the Kashmiri Pandit genocide. How I wish I could go back to my homeland, Kashmir where I would not have the internet to read about the death of our judicial system.”

Samay Raina, himself being a Kashmiri Pandit, had no problems in mentioning the tragic Kashmiri Pandit exodus, to peddle his propaganda against the arrest of ‘comedian’ Munawar Faruqui. About 31 years back, a wave of terror was unleashed against the Kashmiri Pandits in the valley, with rabid Muslim mobs chasing them out of their homes and forcing them to leave Kashmir. Kashmiri Pandits were made to witness a chaotic, macabre night in the form of blaring threats and slogans, asking them to flee their homeland, convert or die.

Maharashtra: BJP MLA asks if a fine of Rs 143 crore on Bajaj Auto was reduced to Rs 25 crore after meeting Aaditya Thackeray

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: BJP MLA asks if a fine of Rs 143 crore on Bajaj Auto was reduced to Rs 25 crore after meeting Aaditya Thackeray

BJP MLA from Kandivali East in Maharashtra, Atul Bhatkhalkar today asked the Maha Vikas Aghadi government if a fine of Rs 143 crore levied on Bajaj Auto was reduced to Rs 25 crores after a meeting convened by Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray. Bhatkhalkar also sought details whether the fine was collected or not. 

Speaking at the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha, BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar said that Bajaj Auto was fined Rs 143 crore for not commencing work on 200-acres of land that was granted to it by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) in 2007. He said that the fine was imposed after the automobile company didn’t start any work on the allotted plot at Chakan till 2020.

The BJP leader asked if the fine was reduced to Rs 25 crores in a meeting convened by Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray. Although he said that 200 acres of land was allotted to Bajaj Auto, actually it was 250 acres.

According to MIDC rules, land acquired by companies in the Chakan region must be utilised within three years, else the companies will have to surrender the land. MIDC had imposed extension charges on Bajaj for keeping the land vacant for more than a decade after acquiring it.

Bajaj Auto had acquired 250 acres of land in Chakan, where it had planned to set up a plant to manufacture a car in collaboration with Renault. Both the companies had planned to manufacture an ultra-low-cost car in India. But as the partnership didn’t materialise, the plan for the car plant had to abandoned. The company had later sought permission to utilise the land for setting up a two-wheeler and three-wheeler manufacturing facility, but even after that, the plot remained unutilised. The company had also offered to return 20-25 acres out of the total 250 it was allotted.

Last year the company announced that it will invest Rs 650 crore for setting up a manufacturing facility on the plot. The company plans to manufacture high-end KTM, Husqvarna and Triumph motorcycles, and electric vehicles like Chetak scooters in the plant. Production is expected to start from 2013. However, it means the company delayed utilising the land for a decade, and therefore it is liable to pay the fine to MIDC for the same.

Kerala: CPI(M) workers demand TM Siddique as a candidate in Muslim-majority Ponnani constituency, reject P Nandakumar

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: CPI(M) workers demand TM Siddique as a candidate in Muslim-majority Ponnani constituency, reject P Nandakumar

Ahead of the assembly elections in the state, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) cadres in the Muslim-majority constituency of Ponnani in Kerala’s Malappuram district have rejected the party candidate P Nandakumar and instead demanded that the party nominate TM Siddique as a candidate.

According to the reports, hundreds of CPI(M) workers and sympathisers took to the streets in protest against their own party for nominating P Nandakumar as the candidate in the upcoming assembly elections. A section within the party has now raised a revolt against Nandakumar’s candidature. They have now demanded that the party should nominate district committee member TM Siddique as the candidate instead.

It is pertinent to note that Muslims comprise more than two-thirds of the population in the constituency. Hindus are just over 30 per cent of the total population in the Ponnani constituency.

Reportedly, CPI(M) has finalised CITU all India secretary P Nanda Kumar as the party candidate from Ponnani, a seat currently represented by Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan. Sreeramakrishnan is not contesting elections, having completed two consecutive terms as a legislator, a rule introduced by CPI(M) in this election.

As TM Siddique, a prominent leader in the Muslim-majority constituency, did not figure in the probable candidates’ list, the local community was enraged and hit the streets on Monday. The protestors held banners that read, “party would correct the leaders, people would correct the party”.

Reacting to the protests, CPM district leadership distanced themselves from the protesters, saying they are not leaders or party members. However, EN Mohandas, CPM Malappuram district secretary, said that the party would study the reason for the protest and find out the details of the organisers of the protest.

Protestors slam district leadership, party sticks to its decision

Meanwhile, the protesters have slammed the CPM district leadership’s statement, saying, “The party wins the elections with the votes of the local people who may not be members or leaders of the party. So, the party’s statement that the protesters are not the party members makes no sense”.

Despite the protests, the CPI(M) has stuck to its decision to field Nandakumar from Ponnani. The CPI(M) leadership, taking a serious view of the protest in Ponnani, held several rounds of meetings on Tuesday and decided that they would neither succumb to the protests nor change their decision on the candidate.

Veteran CPI(M) leader and former MLA Paloli Mohammedkutty, Ponnani’s incumbent MLA and Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and state committee member P Nandakumar attended the meetings held at constituency and panchayat levels. In the meeting, the party leadership said that no revolt by any group could do any major harm to the CPI(M)’s winning chances in Ponnani.

The single-phase election in Kerala will take place on 6th April 2021. The counting of votes will be held on 2nd May 2021.

In the 2016 Kerala Assembly Elections, the Left Democratic Front (LDF), a coalition of left-parties, had won 91 seats out of the 140 seats, while the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had secured 47 seats. BJP had one election in one constituency.

USA: Abusive woman passenger threatens to sue Uber after getting banned, gets banned from Lyft too

OpIndia Staff
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USA: Abusive woman passenger threatens to sue Uber after getting banned, gets banned from Lyft too

After receiving widespread backlash from social media, the ‘anti-mask woman‘ from the viral video seen behaving abusively with her Uber driver has released several videos on social media platforms. During a live session on Instagram, where she explained her side of the story, she said she was ‘scared for her safety’.

The woman admitted that she ‘coughed a bit’ and probably that was wrong, but she even levelled counter allegations o the driver, claiming that he wanted to force them out of his cab. She even claimed that her boyfriend has taught her to beat anyone who wrongs her.

She further claimed she avoids taking Uber and prefers Lyft, another ride-hailing service. Uber, in its statement, said that they had banned her permanently from Uber. The woman threatened to sue Uber during the live session and ended it by saying, “That’s why I take Lyft.”

Interestingly, Lyft, while replying to a Twitter user, condemned her behaviour towards the Uber driver. The company informed in the statement that the woman has been banned from its platform. Lyft said, “Although this incident did not involve the Lyft platform, the unacceptable treatment of the driver in this video compelled us to remove the rider from the Lyft community permanently. Driving in a pandemic is not easy. Please wear a mask, respect one another, and be a good person.”

In a video that had widely gone viral, the said woman and two of her friends were seen abusing, coughing at and threatening an Uber driver, even snatching away his phone when he asked them to wear masks. The incident had occurred in San Francisco where Uber driver Shubhakar’s ordeal was shared by journalist Dion Lim.

The police said that the woman sprayed, possibly pepper spray, in the car after being asked to get down. As the pepper spray is potent in confined space, Uber driver Subhakar Khadka must get it properly cleaned before continuing with Uber. The ride-sharing company could only offer $120, which was not enough for him. One Cyan Banister launched a GoFundMe campaign for him and raised over $21,000 for the driver.

GoFundMe campaign for Subhakar raised over $21,000

The woman shared videos to tell her side of the story

The woman in question posted several videos that she recorded from her phone. She showed that the driver was telling her and her two friends to get off the cab on a freeway as he was cancelling the ride. She said he asked them to leave as he would head home no matter they leave or not. The videos were posted from Instagram handle @keepinupwforeign.

In one of the videos, the car could be seen parked on the side of a freeway, and women were refusing to leave the car. One of them said, “You are not letting us out in the middle of the freeway,” and said that as a man, he has to ensure their safety.

In another video, Khadka was heard telling the women that they are free to leave as he had already cancelled the ride. However, the women were not ready to leave the car until another Uber arrives.

Khadka claims he was harassed because of his race

In a statement, the Uber driver said he believes he was harassed by the passengers because he hails from South Asia. He further said, “I never said anything bad to them, I never cursed, I was not raised that way. I don’t hit people, I am not raised that way, so they were not getting out of my car.”

TMC to release manifesto for West Bengal assembly elections on Maha Shivratri

OpIndia Staff
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TMC to release manifesto for West Bengal assembly elections on Maha Shivratri

After Mamata Banerjee chanted Chandi Path at an election and visited temples, now the Trinamool Congress has decided to launch its manifesto for the assembly elections on Shivratri on March 11. There is a lot of pressure on the ruling party in West Bengal to come up with a promising manifesto as Bharatiya Janata Party is campaigning ferociously in the state.

BJP’s pro-Hindu image is believed to be one of the major concerns for TMC. The decision to release the manifesto on Shivratri is possibly one of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s efforts to woo Hindu voters in the state. Reports suggest that Banerjee will perform Shivratri pooja in the morning in Nandigram and then leave for Kolkata. The manifesto will be released at her Kalighat residence in Kolkata.

As per reports, TMC will make ten commitments to the residents of the state in its manifesto. Prashant Kishor, TMC’s alleged trump card, has followed similar political strategies in states like Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, where he worked on manifestos with taglines ‘Nitish ke Saat Nischay’, ‘Captain ke Nau Nukhte’, ‘Jagan ke Nau Ratnalu’ and ‘Stalin’s Seven Promises’.

Ration, jobs, health and women – possible focus points of TMC’s manifesto

According to reports, TMC is going to promise free delivery of ration in the state. It has been an issue in the state from the time of the Left ruling party. The ration shops and delivery system have always been considered to be the hub of corruption in West Bengal. During Banerjee’s tenure, several complaints were raised claiming the real beneficiaries were not getting their quota of ration. If the state decides to deliver free ration on the doorsteps of the beneficiaries, the need for ration shops will end in the state, which will eliminate the middlemen from the distribution chain.

Sources believe that the manifesto will also focus on health, women empowerment and jobs. Similar promises are expected to be made in BJP’s manifesto, which will be launched over the weekend. Experts believe that BJP’s focus in the manifesto will be to bring benefits of schemes launched by the centre to the people of West Bengal. There are several schemes that are non-applicable in West Bengal as Banerjee’s government is not ready to implement them.

The war of Nandigram

CM Banerjee is going to face Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram. Adhikari’s departure from TMC was one of the biggest blows to Banerjee. 50-year-old Adhikari, who is fighting the election on BJP’s ticket, had said that he would leave politics if he fails to defeat Banerjee in the upcoming elections.

Prashant Kishor and temple runs: When ‘product’ is hard to sell, the ‘political strategist’ invokes their Hindu card

Nirwa Mehta
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Prashant Kishor and temple runs: When ‘product’ is hard to sell, the ‘political strategist’ invokes their Hindu card

You know politicians in India are getting desperate when those who find ‘Jai Shri Ram’ communal are suddenly out and about asserting their Hindu identity. On Tuesday, while addressing a rally in Nandigram, where the sitting chief minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has decided to contest the upcoming assembly elections, started reciting the Chandi Paath.

Political strategist Prashant Kishor is helping Mamata Banerjee fight the elections in West Bengal and it appears that he has also run out of tricks to convince the voters. As like always, he has resorted to getting the politician-clients to assert their Hindu identity.

The TMC is going to release its manifesto on the Maha Shivratri. She is also expected to hold a puja in the morning on 11th March in Nandigram ahead of releasing the manifesto. Apparently, she is being projected as ‘Shiv Bhakt’ to oppose the BJP’s ‘Ram Bhakt’ image.

Now, where have we seen this before?

Arvind Kejriwal visited Hanuman Temple ahead of voting in 2020 Delhi elections

Ahead of voting in February 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had visited the Hanuman Temple at Delhi’s Connaught Place to seek blessings.

Before that, he was found reciting the Hanuman Chalisa on national television.

Kejriwal, too, had hired Prashant Kishor to help him win elections.

Hence, it really doesn’t come much as a surprise that Mamata Banerjee, another one of his clients broke into an impromptu Chandi Paath while addressing a rally.

Ahead of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2017, Rahul Gandhi, who was then a client of Prashant Kishor, went on temple runs. During 2017 Gujarat assembly elections, the then Congress President Rahul Gandhi went to visit the Somnath temple but inadvertently registered his name under the non-Hindu column. By the way, his great grandfather was not too happy with restoration of Somnath temple. Nehru, as Prime Minister, saw the restoration as ‘Hindi Revivalism’.

Rahul Gandhi then continued his temple runs though the years, almost always ahead of elections and as part of his election campaign trail. This lasted up to 2019 general elections, where Congress face humiliating defeat despite the assertion of ‘Hindu identity’.

However, after the humiliating defeats, Congress cut off the professional relationship with Kishor because, well, even the best salesman sometimes can’t quite sell the defunct product.

But Kishor, perhaps, should change some of his strategies. You see, while temple politics may not have helped Rahul Gandhi, it may actually end up harming Mamata Banerjee. That that may not go down too well.

Maybe it is time to put on the creative hat, eh?

Bangladeshi terrorist outfits transferred money to terrorists in Kashmir in the form of cryptocurrency: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Bangladeshi terrorist outfits transferred money to terrorists in Kashmir in the form of cryptocurrency: Report

Banned Bangladeshi terrorist outfits Ansar Al Islam (AI) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) have reportedly transferred huge amounts of money to a terrorist group in Kashmir in the form of cryptocurrency. As per reports, a senior police official informed that a Special Action Group of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) had arrested two AI terrorists in September 2019, who have revealed this.

The arrested terrorists were identified as Awal Newaz alias Sohel Newaz and Fazle Rabbi Chowdhury. The Ansar Al Islam (AI) terrorists revealed during the investigation that terrorist outfits have been receiving funding through the Bitcoin system since 2014. They admitted to having collected huge sums of money from Pakistan and Gulf countries in the form of cryptocurrency. The terror group had further sent funds to a Kashmir based terror group using the same cryptocurrency route.

It may be noted that virtual currency is banned in Bangladesh. A notice was issued by the Bangladesh government in December 2017 asking its people to refrain from making transactions in cryptocurrency.

Terror funding being carried out through cryptocurrency as it is difficult to trace

The arrested terrorists further revealed that they stopped collecting money through ‘hundi’ and shifted to Bitcoin because the former is now under the surveillance of the law enforcement agencies. They said that Bitcoin was an easier way to exchange illegal funds used in organising terrorist activities. Terror financing is largely being carried out with the help of cryptocurrency, as informed by Ahmedul Islam, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of the Special Action Group. “It is very tough to monitor the illegal transaction of Bitcoin as we have not advanced technical devices to monitor it. It’ll be a big challenge for the law enforcers to check the virtual currency in the future”, the Bangladeshi official said.

The US government had seized hundreds of cryptocurrency accounts in 2020

The US government had announced in August 2020 that it had stalled the attempts of terrorist groups to raise funds using cryptocurrency by seizing hundreds of cryptocurrency accounts, four websites and four Facebook accounts. About $2 million worth of cryptocurrency was recovered as per US officials.

Sachin Vaze transferred from Crime Branch after Mansukh Hiren’s wife suspected his involvement in her husband’s death

OpIndia Staff
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Sachin Vaze transferred from Crime Branch after Mansukh Hiren’s wife suspected his involvement in her husband’s death

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said that controversial police officer Sachin Vaze will be removed from the Crime Branch and posted to some other department. Speaking in the Vidhan Sabha, Deshmukh said the move was taken so that an impartial investigation could be done in the Mansukh Hiren death case. Sachin Vaze’s name has been embroiled in the Mansukh Hiren death case, the owner of the car found outside Mukesh Ambani’s resident filled with explosives.

Devendra Fadnavis highlights Sachin Vaze’s involvement in the Antilia bomb scare case

The move to transfer Sachin Vaze to a different department was taken days after the former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis read a statement given by Vimla Hiren, the wife of Mansukh Hiren, in the Maharashtra assembly. In the statement, she had suspected that Mumbai Police Crime Branch officer and ‘encounter specialist’ Sachin Vaze had killed her husband.

She alleged that Sachin Vaze had used the Scorpio car for several months, from November 2020 till February 5. She also added that Vaze had told her husband to get arrested in the case, and had assured him that he will be bailed out in a few days. Vimla Hiren mentioned in her statement that she suspects that Sachin Vaze was involved in the murder of her husband.

Prior to this, Fadnavis had made startling revelations about the involvement of the officer in the Antilia Bomb scare case. he had alleged that the owner of the Scorpio car, which was used to plant gelatin sticks and a threat letter outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence in Mumbai, was in touch with a mobile phone number that is registered in the name of Sachin Vaze.

The car was owned by Mansukh Hiren, who had alleged that his car was stolen from Mulund-Airoli link road. Hiren had also filed a police complaint about the missing car. Hiren was found dead in a creek in Mumbai last week.

“The person who had lodged a missing complaint of the car that was found outside Ambani’s house had made some calls to a number and had received phone calls from that number. When investigated, the number was found to be registered to Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze. The first conversation between the two took place on June 8. The records show another call was made on July 24. Similarly, many such calls have taken place between the two over the last several months,” Fadnavis had said.

Fuelling the mystery further, Fadnavis further had added, “Sachin Vaze was the first police officer to reach the spot and then he was appointed as the Investigation Officer (IO). Three days ago, he was removed as the IO and I fail to understand why he was removed.” Fadnavis asked how Vaze reached the spot before the local police.

Fadnavis had alleged conspiracy behind the attack against Mukesh Ambani, alleging that it could not be a coincidence that the car was stolen from Thane, the route they followed was also from Thane and the IO investigating the case also lived in Thane.

Minutes after Fadnavis made shocking revelations in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha assembly, reports of Mansukh Hiren’s death surfaced in the media. Initially, Mumbai police had claimed that Mansukh Hiren had committed suicide by jumping into the Kalwa Creek. However, the postmortem report didn’t mention the suicide angle, and the cause of the death was reserved in the report.

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