Drunk driver held after injuring biker

Aug 28, 2013

 A 25-year-old man was booked by theMalwani police after he got drunk and rammed his bike into another two-wheeler at Malad West on August 20. The accused, SamadShaikh, his pillion rider and the victim, HaridharRamdayal, were all seriously injured and had to be hospitalized.

Shaikh, 25, had gone to Marve beach with a friend on his bike. The two had a couple of drinks. Shaikh is a resident of plot 59 in Malwani. He and his friend were headed back home when Shaikh couldn't control the bike. At a parking area near the beach, Shaikh rammed into another two-wheeler rider, Haridhar, 35. The impact of the accident was so severe that Haridhar was thrown off and hurt his mouth. Shaikh and his pillion rider also fell off and were hurt.

The Malwani police were informed and the trio was rushed to a hospital in Malad. "Haridhar couldn't speak for one day as he had sustained injuries inside his mouth as well. By the next evening, he got better and gave us his statement," said a police official. A medical examination showed that Shaikh was sloshed. He was booked under sections 279, 339 IPC besides section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act. He hasn't been arrested yet as he is recuperating in hospital.

Haridhar is a resident of Kharodi village in Malad. His family was informed about the mishap.

News from Times of India

Floating wetland to revive Malad talao

August 19, 2013

In a first such experiment to revive a polluted and dying pond in the city, floating wetlands are being used to clean the water body and give aquatic life a chance to flourish again.

On August 14, the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) placed two floating wetlands in the Bujale Talao at Malad as part of their pilot project to clean up the polluted water body.

Floating wetlands are similar to natural wetlands that improve water quality.

Essentially, they are rafts of native plants with their roots suspended in water.

They absorb excess nutrients, trap sediments and block pollutants.

“Instead of using chemical processes to clean up the water, floating wetlands will absorb excess nutrients and naturally produce oxygen which is good for the health of the pond,” said Rakesh Kumar, chief scientist and head, NEERI Mumbai Zonal Centre. “If this experiment is successful, we can replicate it for the Powai lake.”

Apart from creating new land mass for fish and aquatic birds, the floating wetlands can capture carbon and other greenhouse gases and the harvested biomass can be sold as briquettes.

“If this project is successful, we can look at trying this out for other such water bodies to improve their situation,” said Rajiv Jalota, additional municipal commissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Every year, locals use the talao during the Ganesh festival to immerse about 500 colourful idols made of Plaster of Paris, thereby polluting it as the material does not dissolve in water. What remains is the pungent smell of chemicals emanating from the reddish-pink water.

Nestled between residential buildings and a temple, locals are also seen throwing flowers and garbage into the talao.

HT had, in March 2011, written about the state of the pond.

Initially, the institute had 5ft x 5ft PVC pipes and plastic nets to make the rafts. Local plants such as Canna, Scripus and Cyperus in early stages of growth are used.

The roots are suspended in water through plastic nets. shortlisted the Sion talao for the experiment but owing to a dispute in ownership at Sion talao, the NEERI team zeroed in on Bujale talao.

Analysis of water samples from the pond showed low levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) which indicates poor water quality. DO is the amount of oxygen in water that is important for aquatic life to survive.

Six samples showed levels between 0 and 2.9 milligram per litre (mg/lt) while the permissible limit is 5mg/lt.

 News from Hindustan Times

Malad school trustee held for forgery

Aug 21, 2013

The fight between school management and staff reached a new height after the managing trustee of a Malad (E) school got arrested on Sunday night.

The Kurar police arrested Shamsher Singh, managing trustee of Swami Vivekanand High School in Malad (E), on charges of forgery and money laundering after the school's former principal filed a case against him.

The police first received a complaint from the former principal after she was unceremoniously asked to leave her job. An FIR was registered on July 15. The principal's post has been vacant for the last two months and with no principal to approve the payment of teachers, and all 17 teachers of the school have not received their salaries. The Maharashtra Navanirman Vidyarthi Sena has been helping the teachers get their dues.

The MNVS has been helping the teachers and school principal fight their case against the trustee. The principal also registered an NC against the trustee on July 20 after she was threatened by the trustee when she tried to enter school premises.

"Teachers as well as the principal of the school were being harassed at the hands of Singh. He has forged the principal's signature on several occasions and approved teachers for jobs without the principal's knowledge," said Praveen Tamhane, another MNVS activist.

The written complaint to the police mentions that Singh had hired two persons as peons for the school but they were made to work as servants at his home.

"Singh approved his brother's wife as a teacher and she draws a salary from the school. But we have never met her in school," said a teacher.

The deputy education inspector of P ward said she was threatened by the trustee when she entered the school for inspection last monthto check the approval of teachers. In her report, the deputy EI has clearly stated that many teachers' names shown in the register do not work in the school. She also mentioned.

When TOI contacted officials at the Kurar police officers said Singh was arrested after being absconding for over 15 days. "We arrested him at 1:30 on Sunday night and he has been in our custody since," said a senior official. Singh was presented at a local court on Monday and has been denied bail. He has been arrested under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (forging document) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

News from Times of India

Missing Malad man found dead

Aug 22, 2013

A supervisor with a security agency, who had been missing for a week, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a trench filled with water in Malad (W) late on Tuesday. The deceased, Vikram Singh, was identified on the basis of a steel bracelet he was wearing. Police officials said his body was badly decomposed.

Singh (38) went missing on August 14 and his cellphone was also switched off. He was last spotted at an under-construction site at Agarwal Compound in Malad (W), where he worked.

The next day, his wife approached the Malad police and registered a missing person's complaint. On investigation, the police found that a junior guard from Agarwal Compound, who used to report to Singh, had suddenly disappeared.

"Singh was involved in real estate transactions. He was also engaged in constructing a chawl at Nalasopara," a police officer said.

Officers, who visited Agarwal Compound to make inquiries, came across alcohol bottles and pornographic films. "Singh had met someone on August 14, whom he had been introduced to four months ago. We are trying to trace this person," said an officer.

A native of Madhya Pradesh, Singh resided at Kurar village with his wife and three children. On Tuesday night, the police were informed about a foul odour emanating from a trench filled with water near Agarwal Compound. Singh's body was found floating in the trench, which is over 15ft deep. The body was taken to the Borivli post-mortem centre for an autopsy. It was severely decomposed and the police could not make out whether there were any external injuries.

A case of accidental death has been recorded as the police are awaiting the post-mortem report. Officials said it was likely that Singh had been murdered.

 News from Times of India

Husband, in-laws held for woman’s death

4th Nov 2012

The husband and in-laws of a 22-year-old woman from Malad were arrested on Friday for setting her ablaze. Heena Shaikh battled for life at Bhagwati Hospital for two days before succumbing to 100% burns on Saturday. But before she died, she told the police about the torture she was subjected to and based on her dying declaration, her husband and his parents have been booked on murder charges. 

Heena got married to an imitation jewellery trader, Altaaf Shaikh (25), in 2010. The couple stayed with Altaaf's parents at Mira Park in Pathanwadi, Malad (E). 

"On Thursday night, Heena told us that fed up with the harassment by her in-laws, who constantly demanded dowry from her parents, she set herself on fire. But on Friday, when her statement was recorded before a special executive magistrate, Heena said her in-laws had torched her in their flat, while her husband stood by and watched," said senior inspector Subhash Dafle. Based on her words, the police took Altaaf and his parents, Lal Mohammad (57) and Rehmeen Bi (54), into custody on the charge of attempt to commit murder. "Around 11am on Saturday, Heena died following which her Friday's statement was treated as a dying declaration and the charges against the accused were enhanced to "murder". They have been booked under section 302 of the IPC," Dafle added. 

Heena's ordeal began soon after her wedding. "Her husband and in-laws started torturing her physically and mentally. They wanted her to fetch money from her parents so that they could expand their jewellery business. They also taunted her for not bringing enough dowry during wedding," said an official. Heena's parents, who stay in Jalna, are of modest means, with her father and brother being truck drivers. During her wedding, Heena's parents paid a dowry of Rs 10,000 but the in-laws later demanded another Rs 50,000 which, they could not afford. 

The Shaikhs' neighbour, Pamela Bagde, told TOI that Heena had confided in a few residents of the housing society about the torture she faced. "We never expected that the Shaikhs would act this way. The family seemed very religious," said Bagde. "At the same time, we used to hear horror stories about Heena. The Shaikhs had bred poultry inside the flat and insisted that Heena did all the cleaning; she was not even allowed to sleep in the bedroom." 

"Around 10.30pm on Thursday, we spotted smoke billowing out of the Shaikhs' kitchen window and presumed that their cylinder had burst. Though the neighbours went to the flat, the family did not open the door for a long time. The residents kept banging on the door, till the Shaikhs finally came out. Inside, it was dark and I found Heena, almost naked and unconscious, in the bathroom. I can't forget the sight. We brought buckets of water to douse the flames. Heena was badly charred. We summoned the Kurar police," Bagde added. 

On Saturday, the Shaikhs were remanded in police custody till November 7.

New From TOI

Travel body staff, 64 clients duped

3rd Nov 2012

A case of cheating has been registered against the management of a travel agency based in Malad West, after its employees and clients complained they had been duped of lakhs of rupees. The Bangur Nagar police said that 64 clients have come forward so far, complaining of being defrauded of nearly Rs 38 lakh. No arrests have been made. 

The travel agency, Move Holidays, is owned by Karan Vyas and his wife, Akshata. The agency had a 200 sq feet office at Kemp Plaza in Malad. Police have slapped charges of cheating on the Vyas couple as well as the agency's country co-ordinator, Virendra Singh. 

"On October 31, Vyas booked tickets for the night show of a film for 20 of his employees. He also hosted a party for them on October 29. But when the employees reached their workplace on Thursday, they were shocked to find a few laborers emptying the office, packing up furniture and laptops. When the employees called up the Vyas couple and Singh, the trio's cellphones were switched off," said a police official. 

The employees then got in touch with some clients to see if the Vyas couple or Singh had established contact with them. "The clients realized they had been duped as well. 64 clients then approached the police, complaining that the accused had fled with payments made for travel packages," said the official. 

The travel agency, which was started a year ago, lured customers by placing advertisements on their website and in leading newspapers. The agency offered holiday packages to Goa, Kerala, Thailand, Bangkok, Manali and Kashmir at throwaway prices. An employee of the agency told the police that some of them hadn't been given a month's salary, incentives and commission. "The accused-trio is on the run. We have booked them under Section 420 and 34 of IPC and are looking for them," a senior official said.

News from TOI

Abortion deadline forces Malad woman to take the uneasy call

24th Oct 2012

Lawyer Nima Purohit (32) was on cloud nine when she learnt that she was pregnant with her first child. But her happiness was short-lived. In the 19th week of her pregnancy, the Malad resident learnt that her baby's growth was not normal. With the 20-week limit for medical termination of pregnancy fast approaching, Nima made frantic visits to doctors to ascertain if her baby's abnormality was treatable. Eventually, she underwent an abortion on October 17 and is still wondering if she did the right thing.
Nima conceived the baby after nearly 18 months of marriage and the whole family was eagerly awaiting the baby's arrival. Nima was aware of the importance of timely tests during the progress of the pregnancy and underwent regular examinations. In fact, the tests done in the first trimester of her pregnancy showed that everything was normal.

But when she underwent another round of tests in the 19th week of pregnancy, she was told that her baby had Dandy-Walker Syndrome, a congenital malformation in which there is a partial or complete absence of the part of the brain that is located between the two cerebellar hemispheres. "I was told that my baby may suffer from mental retardation, hypotonia and other balance or motor skills abnormalities. The doctors also said that my baby had cardiac anomaly," said Nima.
Doctors suggested that Nima also undergo an aminocentesis test, in which the foetal DNA is examined for genetic abnormalities. As the clock ticked, Nima took opinions not only from paediatric neurologists in Mumbai, but also from those in the US. She collected as much information as she could to know about her baby's condition. "I accessed information online to know what had gone wrong with this little life growing inside me. I researched and I tried to know the prognosis of children with such issues. Awaiting the opinion during those four days and nights, there was no end to my mental agony. It was too traumatic for my family as well," recalled Nima.
Nima, who had an abortion on October 17, wishes that had there been no deadline for abortion, allowing her to wait for the aminocentesis results that will be available next week. "We haven't received those test results yet and do not know if we made the right decision," said Nima.

News from TOI