Latest news with #Ghadge
Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Indian Express
Jewelry shop daylight heist: Three including mastermind arrested, minor detained
Pune city police have cracked the daylight armed robbery at a jewelry shop in Vadgaon Budruk area of Pune. The woman owner of the shop was seriously injured. Police have detained a 16-year-old minor and arrested three more suspects in their early 20s, including the mastermind of the heist. The incident had taken place around 1.30 pm on Tuesday at Shri Gajanan Jewellers located in Vadgaon Budruk area. Investigation revealed that two persons wielding a firearm and a sharp weapon barged into the shop. At the time of the robbery, the owner, identified as Mangal Ghadge, was alone in the shop. The robbers threatened her and started robbing the store at gunpoint and knifepoint. As the Ghadge resisted, one of them attacked her with a metal weapon on her head and hand. The two fled with gold weighing over 50 grams on the bike with the third suspect who was waiting outside on the bike. Mangal Ghadge along with her husband Shankar Ghadge owns the shop. A parallel investigation was launched by the teams from the Crime Branch and the Sinhagad Road police station. Initial clues were obtained by the investigator when they identified the suspects based on CCTV footage. The bike used in the crime was recovered from the detained minor. Based on the information obtained from the minor suspect and the clues obtained from other sources, the police arrested the three other suspects identified as Vardan Kharatmal (20), Amal Babhale (20) and Omkar Shinde (22). 'The minor suspect, Kharatmal and Babhale were the three suspects who had come on the bike. Shinde on the other hand was the one who masterminded the heist and asked the trio to execute it.' In the subsequent probe, the police recovered from the accused the gold ornaments worth Rs 4.5 lakh which included three gold chains and a gold necklace weighing around 50 grams, which were robbed from the shop.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
871 denied treatment under MJPJAY by hospitals
Mumbai: Over five years, 871 patients, 55 of them from Mumbai, were denied treatment by hospitals under Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, prompting them to approach district-level officials. This data is part of a response to an RTI query filed by activist Jitendra Ghadge. "There are around 6,500 hospitals in the state, but only 2,019 (31%) are enrolled in this scheme. Even empanelled hospitals are denying treatment to the poor. This shows serious flaws in implementation of the scheme," said Ghadge. Officials said the data is misleading if read without context. "From 2019-20 to 2024-25, 58 lakh cases received pre-authorisation for treatment under the scheme. In comparison, 871 complaints are very few and exceptional," said Aannasaheb Chavan, CEO of MJPJAY. He said many of these cases were resolved immediately after district coordinators intervened. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai Dr Rameshwar Kumbhar, who heads the grievance cell, said, "The scheme covers only specific treatments and ailments. In some cases, patients file complaints against hospitals for not providing procedures that are not covered under the scheme." With 181 complaints, Sangli saw the highest number of patients who involved local officials. An official there said, "There are many procedures for which the scheme provides insufficient cover. In such cases, hospitals ask patients to pay the rest... agitated patients or relatives complain. In many cases, we make the hospital reimburse the out-of-pocket amount." —Eshan Kalyanikar
Time of India
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
ACB hands tied as Maha puts 374 sanctions against babus on hold
Mumbai: The Maharashtra govt has withheld 374 approvals required by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to proceed with further inquiries and prosecutions against govt servants, revealed RTI information given by the agency. This delay has halted probes across several departments, raising questions regarding ACB's anti-graft measures. Of the 374 pending sanctions under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act , over 99%, i.e. 371 approvals, have faced delays of more than 120 days, leading to speculation that this could be a deliberate strategy to shield tainted officials. The RTI reply was to queries posed by activist Jeetendra Ghadge. As mandated by a 2018 amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act, these sanctions are essential for the ACB to even begin preliminary investigations against govt officials, establishing a two-tier sanctioning procedure. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai Former director general of police Praveen Dixit, who was also the chief of ACB, said among these cases, those awaiting prosecution after being caught red-handed by the ACB after laying a trap are the most genuine ones. "The provision of sanction in such cases should be removed as it unjustifiably protects the accused govt employee. The sanctioning authority can be managed by the accused, which eventually encourages staff to indulge in corruption. As per Supreme Court observation, if the sanction in trap cases is not given, it should be considered deemed sanction for prosecution. Unfortunately, sanction has to be given by the higher-ups, including the ministers themselves," he said. However, sometimes, cases of inquiry over allegations of corruption against an official are too personal and levelled out of enmity, said Dixit. "Here, it is justifiable that the competent authority makes the inquiry first and then recommends the case to the ACB," Dixit added. The 2018 amendment was ostensibly designed to safeguard honest officers from vexatious harassment; however, critics contend it is now systematically leveraged to hinder bona fide corruption inquiries, said Ghadge. "These figures show a complete breakdown of accountability. The question is, what is the ACB doing if it cannot act against corrupt officials? This undermines public trust and the govt's anti-corruption promises." A breakdown of the data reveals that the Urban Development Department (UDD) has the highest number of pending sanctions at 88, followed by Revenue Department (60), and Rural Development Department (52). "Further complicating the matter, the ACB has declined to provide data on how many sanction requests have been outrightly denied by various departments, thereby keeping the actual extent of governmental inertia unclear," stated Ghadge. Activists said the pronounced lack of transparency has sparked exasperation among citizens and anti-corruption activists. Advocate Kartik Jani from The Young Whistleblowers Foundation said, "There appears to be a clear disconnect between political commitments and administrative will. These figures expose how procedural bottlenecks and political indifference are hampering the fight against corruption." Activists are now demanding urgent judicial and legislative reforms to curtail misuse of sanctioning powers, insisting on accountability for all officials. Ghadge added, "These amendments were done by the central govt after extensive lobbying by our bureaucrats who wanted complete protection from ACB. It seems these sanctions are now given only when a rival minister is accused of corruption. However, no sanction is given when a babu is accused. In Maharashtra, the UDD has the highest sanctions pending. What's interesting is that for several years, the same politician has been the head of UD, despite changes in govts."
Time of India
22-04-2025
- Time of India
Serial vehicle thief nabbed; stolen tractor recovered
1 2 3 Pune: The Mahalunge MIDC police on Monday arrested a criminal on police records from Ahilyanagar district and recovered a stolen tractor and a pick-up truck, worth a total of Rs17 lakh, from his possession. The arrested man, Aniket Kadlag (28), has cases of heavy vehicle thefts registered against him with the Pimpri Chinchwad and Ahilyanagar police. A Mahalunge MIDC police team, led by senior inspector Nitin Gite, took Kadlag into custody after checking CCTV cameras on the 70km stretch between Nighoje in Khed taluka and Alephata. Assistant police inspector Kalyan Ghadge of the Bhosari MIDC police told TOI that on April 12, a tractor along with the trolley was stolen from Nighoje. "While checking the CCTV footage in the area, we found that the suspect took the tractor towards Alephata. We checked over 100 CCTV cameras and traced the suspect to Sangamnager in Ahilyanagar district. The tractor has been recovered," Ghadge said. Ghadge said that during the questioning, Kadlag admitted to stealing a pick-up truck from the Chikhali area. "We have recovered the pick-up truck also," Ghadge said. He mentioned that Kadlag has cases of stealing heavy vehicles registered against him. "Our investigations are ongoing," he said.
