The Navy said it has achieved a ‘very high level of coordination’ with concerned state and Central agencies on the issue of coastal security.

“We have achieved a very high level of coordination with concerned state and Central agencies on the issue of coastal security,” Vice Admiral Surinder Pal Singh Cheema, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, told reporters.

The top Navy official was speaking to reporters on board INS Vikramaditya, a modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier which entered into service with the Indian Navy in 2013.

“Prevention of a 26/11 type attack is one of the prime focus areas of the Western Naval Command for which we are fully geared up to meet any challenge,” he said.

“We use technology, like radars and other sensors. Whatever is there at sea, we monitor it,” Adm Cheema said, when asked about measures taken after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai when the terrorists set off from Karachi and entered Indian waters.

“We are also in close touch with fishermen who are the eyes and ears. They are the first to spot anything,” he added.

The Flag Officer also lauded the ‘good coordination and understanding’ with all agencies including Coast Guard, Marine Police, Customs to prevent any threat emanating from the sea.

Speaking of the naval shipbuilding, Adm Cheema said, “As of now, there are 47 warships under various stages of construction.”

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ thrust is a huge shot in arm. There is 90 per cent indigenisation in ship building,” he added.

Asked about threat from neighbours like China, Adm Cheema said, “the Navy is a guarantor of peace and prosperity.

The Mumbai Police has approached a local court seeking permission for custodial interrogation of lawyer Ashok Saraogi in connection with an FIR filed against him for alleged forgery and cheating.

An FIR was registered in October this year against three lawyers – Ashok Saraogi, who had earlier represented gangster Abu Salem, Ivy Jacob Tauro and Sohel Kazi – for allegedly defrauding the court by aiding three businessmen to illegally acquire agricultural land in Raigad.

Their role had come to light after a court-ordered inquiry conducted by an IPS officer, who recommended that criminal proceedings be initiated against them.

Subsequently, Kazi was arrested while Tauro is absconding.

“Saraogi has not been formally arrested as he got a report from hospital stating he recently had angioplasty done,” DCP (zone I) Ravindra Shisve said.

In this regard, the Azad Maidan police recently approached the magistrate court to have his custodial interrogation done, Shisve added.

The judicial custody of underworld don Chhota Rajan, who was arrested by CBI in an alleged fake passport case, was extended till December 15 by a Delhi court on Thursday.

Mr. Rajan was produced before special CBI judge Vinod Kumar through video conferencing from Tihar jail during a closed-door proceeding.

He was not produced physically in the court after the CBI had moved an application saying there was serious threat perception to Mr. Rajan from his rivals, and that it would be “extremely unsafe” to produce him in open court.

Deported after being on the run for 27 years, the 55-year-old gangster, whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, was sent to high-security Tihar prison in judicial custody on November 19.

Rajan, once a close aide of fugitive terrorist and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, has been brought to the country to face trial in over 70 cases of murder, extortion and drug smuggling in Delhi and Mumbai.

After his arrest in Bali on October 25, India had pressed for his early deportation.

Around 61 per cent of woman local train commuters on Central Railway’s ‘main’ line have faced sexual harassment in the form of unwanted touching, according to a safety audit conducted by an NGO.

Alarmingly, various forms of harassment exist irrespective of age and dressing style of women commuters, and overcrowding appears to be the main culprit.

“A total of 522 women were interviewed as part of our project and 56.13 per cent respondents reported the problem of staring, while 51.34 per cent complained of receiving comments,” said Nandita Shah, Co-Director, ‘Akshara’.

She released the audit report during an awareness campaign launched by the Central Railway and Akshara.

The women surveyed were asked about their experience of sexual harassment while travelling in suburban trains, called as lifeline of Mumbai.

“Some women also named more serious forms of sexual harassment, like stalking (29.69 per cent), flashing (14.37 per cent) and groping 15.52 (per cent) as risks they have to face while travelling,” the report stated.

Commenting on the survey, Central Railway Chief Security Commissioner A K Singh said, “We are already aware of these sorts of complaints and corrective measures have also been put in place to curb such incidents”.

He said the survey will come handy in effective deployment of security personnel.

According to the report, “Women face harassment on platforms, on (foot-over) bridges and on trains. Every woman has been subjected to some or other kind of harassment while travelling irrespective of her age, time of commute and dress she is wearing”.

The survey says that most of women fall prey to deliberate pushing and inappropriate touching during rush hours.

Amid speculations of a cabinet expansion, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called on Governor Vidyasagar Rao at Raj Bhavan here ahead of the Winter Session of the state Legislature, which begins in Nagpur from Monday.

“Various issues were discussed at the meeting, which lasted for 50 minutes,” a Raj Bhavan press release issued here said.

An official from the Chief Minister’s office (CMO) denied that the meeting was held to discuss the cabinet expansion. “The meeting was on other issues,” the official said without divulging any details.

The cabinet expansion to fill in 10 out of the 12 vacancies was scheduled to take place in the first week of December before the commencement of the three-week Winter Session.

According to sources, issues like tribal development figured in the meeting between the CM and the Governor.

Four members from BJP, two from Shiv Sena and four of smaller allies were to be accommodated as Ministers of State. However, Sena and smaller allies like Rashtriya Samaj Paksha leader Mahadev Jankar have been demanding a cabinet berth.

Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister on October 31, last year with seven Cabinet and two Ministers of State.

When Shiv Sena later joined the government, the strength of the ministry was increased from 10, including the Chief Minister, to 30.

At present, there are 20 ministers from BJP and 10 from Sena.

Rashtriya Samaj Party MLC Mahadev Jankar, Republican Party of India’s Rajya Sabha MP Ramdas Athavale, Swabhimani Partys Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetti and Shiv Sangram MLC Vinayak Mete are seeking that their parties get ministerial slots.

As per constitutional provisions, the Maharashtra Assembly, which has 288 MLAs, can have 42 ministers, which is 15 per cent of the total strength.

CBI on Thursday moved the sessions court here seeking permission to question prime accused Indrani Mukerjea, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyamvar Rai in jail in the Sheena Bora murder case even as judicial custody of the trio was extended till December 17.

“We seek permission to interrogate the accused in jail for three weeks,” CBI special prosecutor Kavita Patil told the court.

However, Special Judge H S Mahajan is likely to hear the probe agency’s plea on Monday.

On November 20, a Metropolitan Magistrate court had transferred the trial in the case to a sessions court here and had directed that the three accused be produced there on December 3.

According to CBI sources, they have received the forensic laboratory report on the Skype communication and messages amongst the trio.

“We need to confront the accused with these FSL reports,” they said.

Meanwhile, Indrani, through her lawyer, moved an application seeking statements of witnesses recorded before the court.

The 43-year-old has also sought Rai’s confessional statement in the case. The court will hear this application too on Monday.

Indrani, Khanna and Rai were chargesheeted after their arrest in the case in August this year. Indrani’s husband and former media baron Peter Mukerjea is in judicial custody till December 14.

Peter was arrested on November 19 and was subsequently subjected to sustained grilling and polygraph test during his 11-day CBI custody.

Sheena (24), Indrani’s daughter from an earlier relationship, was allegedly strangled in a car and then her body burnt and dumped in a forest in Raigad, about 84 kms from Mumbai.

While Indrani is lodged in the Byculla womens’ prison, Peter is kept at the high-security Arthur Road Jail here, where other two accused in the case–Khanna and Rai – are also lodged.

Five persons, including three women, were arrested from Manmad in Nashik for allegedly selling a new-born baby girl, police said on Thursday.

The five accused were nabbed yesterday by Manmad Police in the district and were produced before a local court, which remanded them in three days police custody.

According to the complaint lodged by Sunita Pawar, mother of the 22-day-old baby and a resident of Ahmednagar district, four of the accused told her that she would not be able to take care of her daughter due to her poor financial condition and convinced her to give away her baby for adoption to a woman – Ashwini Khairnar – who lives in Manmad.

When Sunita, along with the four persons, visited Khairnar’s place in Manmad, she saw her daughter being sold for Rs 60,000, following which she lodged a complaint with the local police, Manmad police station sub-inspector Dhirendra Singh Bilwal said.

The accused were identified as — Bhausaheb Maruti Godse (69), Kusum Kharat (50), Terija Khatarnavre (42), Swapnil Paraj Dhavare (26), and Ashwini Khairnar (age not mentioned), he said.