A woman passenger travelling alone on an outstation train in Maharashtra was immediately attended to by authorities after she sought help through a tweet directed to the twitter handle of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, a senior Central Railway officer said.

The commuter, identified as Namrata Mahajan, had posted the tweet, which was directed to Prabhu’s handle @RailMinIndia, at 6.59 PM while she was passing through Shegaon railway station yesterday.

“@RailMinIndia plz plz help in train no 18030. One male passenger harassing me at Shegaon. I am in train and terrified,” she tweeted.

Central Railway chief PRO, Narendra Patil said a senior officer, Ved Prakash, immediately noted the tweet and contacted him to do the needful to help the woman.

“But she (Mahajan) has not given full details of the train she was travelling in. So a reply seeking details of her train and her berth position was sent to her twitter handle. She was also asked to contact security helpline number 182 which she did after sometime and also gave details about her position via twitter,” said Patil who had by then alerted DRM Bhusaval to get ready to address a passenger in distress.

As the train reached Bhusaval railway station in 40 minutes, Mahajan was immediately attended by RPF jawans, he said.

Relieved after getting the swift assistance, Mahajan thanked the minister. “@RailMinIndia sir help reached to me. Thanks a lot sir,” she tweeted.

When asked why Mahajan felt distressed, Patil said, “the man had a wait-listed ticket and his behaviour and body language did not seem to be decent and since Mahajan was travelling alone, she felt terrified”.

The male passenger was shifted to another coach as he had a valid ticket.

Patil also appealed to passengers to dial the national security helpline number 182 in case of any emergency.

Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray will visit the drought-hit areas of Marathwada region in Maharashtra on November 29 to disburse financial assistance among affected farmers.

The Sena chief “will visit farmers affected by crop loss due to drought, unseasonal rains and hailstorm in Parbhani, Jalna and Nanded districts”, said a source close to Thackeray.

“He (Thackeray) will distribute Rs. 10,000 in cash and essential items to each affected family. The effort is to help them mitigate their difficulties and overcome them. They should not contemplate suicide,” the source added.

Last year, Thackeray had organised an exhibition of his infrared paintings which included the Haji Ali Dargah and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in Mumbai.

“Rs 5 crore was collected from the exhibition of paintings. Thackeray will the first leader who is spending his own money for the welfare of farmers,” the source said.

Sena ministers like Diwakar Raote are already in Parbhani to make preparations for Thackeray’s visit on Sunday.

Suresh Mirghe, the then police inspector of Pen police station in Raigad, has told CBI that he had sent samples of Sheena Bora’s burn remains to the state run JJ Hospital and the Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina for examination in 2012 but did not received any reports until his transfer in 2014.

Mirghe’s statement was recorded by CBI during its investigations against Indrani Mukerjea who is accused of having killed her daughter with the help of ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyamvar Rai in April 2012.

Sheena (24) was burnt and dumped in a forested patch in Raigad, about 84 km from Mumbai.

Indrani and others were arrested in August this year by Mumbai police after which the case was transferred to CBI.

In May 2012, the Pen police received information that the burnt remains of a body have been found at a deserted spot on the Pen-Khopoli Road.

Pen police station inspector Suresh Mirghe along with Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Pradeep Chavan and some constables reached the spot and conducted panchnama of the spot and sent the body for post-mortem.

“I called up the Superintendent of Police R D Shinde and informed him about the body and sought instructions from him. Shinde instructed me not to register FIR immediately and first make entry in the station diary and then send the body samples for chemical and DNA examination to J J Hospital,” Mirghe told CBI in his statement.

Mirghe added that as per the SP’s instruction he went to Pen police station and made entry in the station diary. “On May 25, 2012 I sent samples from the recovered body’s thigh and hand bone, hair, teeth and skin for expert opinion. I also sought opinion on the age, sex, time of death and reason of death,” Mirghe said.

“Till my posting in Pen police station, I did not receive any report from J J Hospital. Although I did not send any further reminder to the hospital, my constable was regularly pursuing the same with authorities at the hospital. In June 2014, I was transferred from Pen police,” Mirghe said.

He added that the samples were also sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Kalina but no report was received from there too.

“I am facing enquiry as to why FIR was not registered even when a body was recovered in my jurisdiction and for the alleged lapses after recovery of the body,” Mirghe said.

Police have arrested five members of the Ravi Pujari gang with help from a local builder, who was getting extortion calls after his manager was kidnapped, a senior officer said.

The gangsters, Shrinivas Swami alias Raju (32), Shailesh (24), Sidesh More alias Anna (27), Ganesh Naik alias Bhau (56) and Nitesh Komu alias Raj (25), were apprehended from Khar area of western suburbs, said Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deven Bharti.

According to the police, on Tuesday last the builder lodged a complaint alleging his manager had been kidnapped by gangsters claiming allegiance to Pujari, said to be based overseas, and demanded Rs 75 lakh in extortion money.

The gangsters used to call the complainant from the kidnapped manager’s mobile phone and often threatened him and demanded he shell out the money, said Bharti.

The builder also revealed that his manager was kidnapped six months ago, too, from Santacruz area of western suburbs, said DCP (Zone IX) Satyanarayan Chaudhary.

“When the manager was kidnapped six months ago, the complainant paid Rs. 30 lakh as extortion amount,” he said.

However, the realtor does not know whom he paid the money – to members of the Pujari gang or the Chhota Shakeel syndicate – as he had received threatening phone calls from both groups, said Chaudhary.

Police devised a plan to get to the criminals. They told the builder to remain in touch with the gangsters and convince them to free the manager after which he would pay Rs. 10 lakh as the first installment, said Bharti.

The Pujari gang members freed the manager in early hours of Wednesday.

The complainant called the Pujari gang members and asked them to come to a hotel in Khar to take the first installment.

Two teams of officials in plainclothes from Khar police laid a trap and arrested the five gangsters who arrived to collect the money in a van and a motorcycle, said police.

Police seized a 7.65 bore pistol, a few live cartridges, mobile phones and the two vehicles used by them.

Shiv Sena backed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s remarks that secularism was the “most misused” term and hit out at Congress alleging that it effected constitutional amendments to suit its “dirty politics”.

The party said that the dalit population has over the years realised that Congress has used the ‘divide-and-rule formula’ to serve its “selfish politics” of vote bank.

“The Congress ensured that walls of caste, creed and religion were permanent. The word secularism has been misused in our country,” the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

“The Constitution was framed to ensure that the country remains a strong sovereign nation. But several amendments were made for dirty politics. In the Shah Bano case, constitutional amendment was made to overturn a historic Supreme Court verdict,” the ruling alliance partner alleged.

Because of such instances, the country’s sovereignty is under threat, it said.

“Secularism is the most misused word in the country.

Its misuse should come to an end. Because of the rampant misuse of the word, there have been instances of tension in the society,” Rajanth had said yesterday during a debate on the ‘Commitment to India’s Constitution’ as part of 125th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar in Lok Sabha.

Singh had also said that Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, had never thought of putting the term ‘secularism’ in the Preamble, but it was incorporated through an amendment in 1976.

“The words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were incorporated in the Preamble through the 42nd amendment of the Constitution. We have no objection,” he said.

Referring to the debate in Lok Sabha, the ‘Saamana’ editorial slammed the Congress for claiming that Ambedkar, his constitutional framework and its implementation were all because of the party.

“The dalit population has over the years realised that Congress, which ensured Ambedkar’s defeat in Lok Sabha polls, has used the ‘divide-and-rule formula’ and used followers of Ambedkar for their selfish politics as vote bank,” the Sena further alleged.

With Bihar announcing to enforce prohibition, an MLA of ruling BJP in Maharashtra has written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking ban on liquor in the state.

BJP MLA from Katol, Ashish Deshmukh, in his letter addressed to Fadnavis, appealed to the government to declare Maharashtra as a ‘dry state’ with a view to bring about a “social revolution”.

Currently, prohibition of liquor is enforced in districts of Wardha, Gadchiroli and Chandrapur in the state.

“Gujarat, Nagaland, parts of Manipur, Laskshadweep have enforced prohibition. Bihar will be dry state from April 1 next year, and Kerala also proposes to do so. I appeal that Maharashtra too should be a dry state by banning liquor sale and consumption. This will result in a social revolution,” he said.

Apart from the three ‘dry’ districts, demand is being pressed in Buldhana and Yavatmal as well.

A meeting to discuss the issue was also held by Minister of State for Social Justice and Excise Dilip Kamble where he issued strict instructions to officials concerned to check the sale and transport of illicit liquor and take action against those involved.

The minister said there is no proposal under consideration of the government to ban liquor in the entire state.

The proposed expansion of the Devendra Fadnavis ministry in Maharashtra slated for the first week of December will see 10 ministers of state being inducted into the BJP-led NDA government.

“BJP President Amit Shah has given clearance for the Cabinet expansion and formal approval of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to be taken.

“Out of the 12 vacancies, 10 will be filled and all will be ministers of state,” a BJP leader said requesting anonymity.

Four ministers from BJP along with an identical number from the NDA’s smaller members — Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, Shiv Sangram, RPI(A) and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna — and two Shiv Sena leaders will be included in the council of ministers.

“Two berths for BJP will be kept pending,” the leader said.

The smaller allies have demanded Cabinet berths and Sena, too, was keen for an additional Cabinet berth.

At present, there are 30 ministers, including the chief minister — 18 Cabinet and 12 ministers of state. There can be 42 ministers in Maharashtra.

The much-awaited expansion of the council of ministers may take place before the beginning of the state legislature’s session in Nagpur on December 7.

The Fadnavis government was sworn in 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 increased from 10, including the chief minister, to 30.

There are 20 ministers from BJP and 10 from Sena in the present council of ministers.

Currently, Maharashtra Assembly has only one vacancy — for the Palghar (ST) reserved seat — while a few vacancies are likely to be created in the Legislative Council next year.

A teenage girl was allegedly gangraped by her friend and three other boys, with the crime coming to light after her aunt came across the video of the incident that they had circulated on WhatsApp.

All the four accused who are minors have been taken into custody, DCP (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni said.

They were later sent to a remand home.

The four boys, studying in classes IX and X, allegedly gangraped the 15-year-old girl on November 8 and made a video of the crime.

They then threatened the girl not to reveal the incident or else they would post the video online, Malad police station’s senior inspector Shashank Sandbhor said.

One of the accused is a friend of the girl. She had gone for studies at his home in suburban Malad, where he and three of his accomplices allegedly gangraped her, he said.

The accused later posted the video of the incident on the internet and some social networking sites, police said.

The video later went viral on mobile messaging application WhatsApp and caught the attention of the victim’s aunt, who then informed her parents.

Subsequently, the girl’s family lodged a complaint with Malad police which took the four boys into custody on Thursday.

“We took the four boys into custody yesterday and have sent them to Dongri remand home,” Sandbhor said.