A MSRTC bus driver and a security guard were injured when a gang of nearly 25 armed people attacked them in Panchavati locality here, police said Tuesday.

One person has been arrested in this connection.

The gang members, wielding sharp-edged weapons and sticks, barged into the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) depot last evening at around 8 PM, ransacked the depot manager’s cabin by pelting it with stones and attacked bus driver N K Jadhav and depot security guard H S Gadhave, Panchavati police station inspector Prakash Sapkale said.

According to police, the attackers were angry with Jadhav as one of their accomplice had sustained a minor injury when the driver overtook his motorcycle yesterday, he said.

Subsequently, the attackers gathered and reached the MSRTC depot carrying knives, iron rods and wooden sticks. They caught hold of Jadhav and attacked him. When Gadhave tried to rescue him, they attacked him also, he said.

Both the injured persons were admitted to a private hospital.

Later, one person was arrested, police said adding that a search was on to nab other culprits.

MSRTC Nashik’s Divisional Controller Yamini Joshi visited the two injured persons in the hospital to enquire about their health.

Ever imagined getting live feed from dance bars inside police stations in Mumbai? That appears to be a real possibility now!

The Maharashtra government has drafted new rules and regulations for dance bars in Mumbai in order to allow them to reopen.

However, some of the rules are such that dance bars will find it near impossible to function – something which the state government is inclined towards.

As per a report, if the rules are approved, then every dance bar in the city will have to install CCTV cameras and beam the live feed to the nearest police station.

And it’s anybody’s guess once that happens, how many customers would turn up at dance bars to indulge in what they call ‘pleasure’.

It is highly unlikely that anybody would want him or her to be seen in a dance bar, that too by cops.

In October, the Supreme Court had overturned a Maharashtra government ban on dance bars, saying it violated bar dancers’ right to earn a livelihood.

The draft rules also restrict the number of dancers on the floor and also prescribe a minimum distance between the performers and the audience, meaning customers can’t dance on the floor.

Further, smoking would not be allowed inside dance bars, nor would flashing of currency notes be permitted.

A minor girl, who apparently had an affair with a 27-year-old teacher in her school, died after both allegedly tried to commit suicide at a town near Nashik, police said on Tuesday.

The 17-year-old girl, a student of class X, had an affair with her ashram school teacher Samadhan Subhash Patil.

The duo, both residents of Galane village in Chalisgaon taluka of Jalgaon district, had been missing for last couple of days, Chandwad police station inspector Anant Mohite said.

The two came to Chandwad tehsil town in Nashik district on Monday and allegedly consumed poison at Chandreshwari temple there, he said.

Later, police rushed to the spot after some locals informed them about the duo lying there.

The police rushed them to a hospital, but the girl died en route, he said.

The teacher was later shifted to Nashik Civil Hospital, the police officer said, adding that they suspect that the duo tried to end their lives over their love affair.

Meanwhile, the girl’s body was sent for postmortem and later handed over to her relatives.

A case has been registered in this connection, police added.

Manuscripts and documents dating back to the reign of Peshwa Bajirao I, which bear testimony to the glory of the Peshwa empire, are gathering dust in Pune for want of experts who could translate them even as a film based on the life of the 18th century Maratha icon is set for release this week.

Noted Pune-based historian Mandar Lawate has lamented what he termed the government’s “apathy” when it comes to bringing to light the full glory and true history of the Peshwa empire that is recorded in manuscripts, letters and ancient documents written in the ‘Modi Lipi’ (ancient cursive form of Marathi script) that taken together run into about four crore pages.

“The British during their reign had kept and preserved these documents at Pune’s Shanivarwada, the seat of Peshwa power,” Lawate said.

“Only Maratha history between 1630 to 1680 CE (reign of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj) is known to the outside world.

The rest of the history has been treated as less important by the government,” he said.

He said that since there are few experts left today who can devote time and energy to decipher ‘Modi Lipi’, the history of the Peshwas, their conquests and expansion of the Maratha empire is still largely unknown.

“The present day descendants of Udaysingh Peshwa are more cultured and have refrained from falling into any controversy, preferring to maintain a low profile,” he added.

Meanwhile, questioning the picturisation of songs in the upcoming film ‘Bajirao Mastani’ — based on Bajirao and his two wives, Kashibai and Mastani — by Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Lawate said, “Have you ever seen a chief minister dance in public? It was not the etiquette in those days for men and women to dance in public.”

Women in those days used to remain inside the ‘Gosha’ (a veil, type of purdah system), he said. “There are no portraits available of women from royal families then. Only DG Godse has written a book on Mastani, which contain purely his inferences.”

The film is set to hit theatres on Dec. 18.

The Centre is considering a proposal to enhance punishment for drunk driving by amending IPC Sections 304A (causing death by negligence) and 279 (rash and negligent driving), the Bombay High Court was informed on Tuesday.

A draft bill pertaining to amendment to Indian Penal Code sections was being “scrutinised and finalised”, Centre’s counsel Parag Vyas told the bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Gautam Patel.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by senior journalist Nikhil Wagle seeking compensation from Bollywood superstar Salman Khan for the victims of the 2002 hit-and-run case.

Khan was acquitted by another High Court judge in the case last week.

The lawyer said a draft proposal seeking to increase the compensation for accident victims under the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act had been sent to the states and 22 states had given their comments. Comments from the remaining states were awaited.

Once this process was complete, the government would take a final call on amending the Motor Vehicles Act, Vyas said.

The High Court noted that the government had taken some concrete steps, and adjourned the matter to 21 February.

Although Khan has already deposited the compensation to be paid to the families of victims as directed by the High Court, the petition is still being heard as the court expanded its scope to include enhancement of punishment in accident cases.

The court had earlier suggested that the Centre consider amending the IPC and the MV Act so as to make drunk driving a more serious offence.

Jaiprakash Agarwal, joint secretary in the Union Home Ministry, said in an affidavit earlier that the Law Commission had recommended modification of Sections 304 A and 279 of IPC to make drunk driving a more serious offence. The process had already begun and it will come up before the Cabinet soon, he said.

The maximum punishment for the offence under Section 304 A is two years or fine or both, and imprisonment for six months or fine or both under Section 279.

Khan’s SUV had rammed a bakery in suburban Bandra on 28 September, 2002, before running over a group of homeless people sleeping on the pavement outside, killing one person and injuring four. The actor was convicted on 6 May, 2015, by the Sessions Court and sentenced to five years in jail, but the Bombay High Court acquitted him.

A local court remanded four corporators, arrested in the builder Suraj Parmar suicide case, in judicial custody till December 28.

District judge V V Bambarde rejected special public prosecutor Raja Thakre’s plea seeking a five-day extension in police custody of the corporators who have been booked for abetment to suicide.

Thakre requested the court that police had to probe the trail of illicit funds allegedly received by the four and transactions executed by them including deposition of funds in their bank accounts.

He said police also needed to verify the claims of some people who have accused the four of harassment but the court rejected his demand for extension of police custody.

The corporators, identified as Najeeb Mulla and Hanumant Jagadle (both of NCP), Vikrant Chavan (Congress) and Sudharkar Chavan (Independent), surrendered before police on December 5 after the Bombay High Court had rejected their anticipatory bail plea in the case.

Parmar, a leading builder, had shot himself on October 7. His suicide note alleged that a nexus of corporators and officials was harassing him for bribes.

Thane Police had registered a case of abetment of suicide under IPC and criminal misconduct under Prevention of Corruption Act as the suicide note allegedly named these four corporators.

Arguing against police custody, defence counsel Sujit Pasbola submitted that the corporators had complied with the HC’s order and co-operated with the investigating agency.