Maharashtra

Thane, Dec 11(PTI) A BJP corporator was on Wednesday sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment by a court here in Maharashtra for taking bribe in 2014.

District Judge (special Anti-Corruption Bureau cases) P P Jadhav pronounced Varsha Bhanushali, the corporator in the BJP-ruled Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) of Thane district, guilty under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs five lakh on her, additional public prosecutor Vivek Kadu said.

Pune, Dec 10 (PTI) The Maratha Kranti Morcha has demanded speedy justice in the 2016 case of rape and killing of a 15-year-girl in Maharashtra's Kopardi village.

The pro-Maratha outfit sent a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackarey on Monday, seeking his intervention into the matter and their other pending demands.

Mumbai, Dec 10 (PTI) The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said centralisaton of power in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was one of the main reasons for the "poor" economic health of the country.

The central government wants the finance minister and RBI governor under its control, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' claimed, adding that the present BJP-led dispensation is not ready to listen to economists as it considers the economy as a "share market gamble".

Nagpur, Dec 10 (PTI) A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two brothers on various occasions in the last one month in Maharashtra's Nagpur district, a police official said on Tuesday.

The two accused have been arrested, he said.

One of the accused, Akash Sanjay Karemore (27), took the girl to Gangapur Takalghat village here last month on the pretext of marriage and allegedly raped her there, he said.

Nagpur, Dec 9 (PTI) A 32-year-old man has been arrested for raping and murdering a five-year-old tribal girl by smashing her head with a stone in Maharashtra's Nagpur district on Sunday, police said on Monday.

The body of the girl, who was missing since December 6, was found on an agriculture farm in Linga village in Kalmeshwar taluka, some 25 kms away from Nagpur.

Mumbai, Dec 9 (PTI) The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is "anti-Constitutional" and the BJP-led Union government is pushing it only for political benefits, Nationalist Congress Party chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said here on Monday.

TheCitizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB)seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan escaping religious persecution there.

Nashik, Dec 8 (PTI) A seven-year-old girl was raped on Sunday allegedly by her 27-year-old neighbour in Nashik in Maharashtra, police said.

The accused, identified as Kailas Kokani, was beaten up by angry locals in Ambad locality and handed over to police, an official said.

Kokani lured the girl under the pretext of playing with her and showing cartoons on television in his house. He then allegedly sexually assaulted her in afternoon.

Nagpur, Dec 6 (PTI) Maharashtra's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has given a clean chit to NCP leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in the multi-crore Vidarbha irrigation scam.

The ACB, in its affidavit submitted in the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, has ruled out Pawar's involvement in cases of alleged irregularities in approval and commissioning of irrigation projects in the state.

The affidavit was submitted on November 27, a day before the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of the Shiv Sena -NCP-Congress was sworn-in the state on November 28.

Jalna, Dec 6 (PTI) Chief executive officer of the Central Haj Committee Maqsood Ahmed Khan said here on Friday that the committee has extended the last date for filling online application for Haj to December 17.

The committee started receiving applications for the pilgrimage from October 10 in fully online mode, he said.

"In view of representations from several quarters and state committees, the date has been extended," Khan told PTI.

Mumbai, Dec 5 (PTI) A just-born girl was killed after being thrown from a 21-storey building in suburban Kandivali on Thursday afternoon, the police said.

The incident took place at a high-rise constructed under a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme in Lalji Pada area.