A wreath laying ceremony was organised by the Maharashtra and Gujarat Sub Area of the Army, at Colaba Military Station to commemorate 50 years of the 1965 war.

The Indo-Pak War officially ended on September 22 1965. Wreaths were laid in honour of the heroes who laid down their lives fighting for the country during the war.

“During the war, the Indian forces, not only protected our integrity but also brought decisive gains against an aggressor enemy,” an official statement said.

Major General Anuj Mathur, Chief of Staff of Headquarter Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa Area and other senior officers laid wreaths in a solemn ceremony.

The ceremony included a guard of honour and buglers who sounded ‘Last Post’ followed by two minutes of silence in memory of the brave men who laid down their lives 50 years ago.

The ceremony was held at Kangra Udyan, where a Sherman Tank is displayed. This tank belonged to the Deccan Horse and has participated in the Battle of Asal Uttar fought from 8-10 December 1965, where three of our own Armoured Regiments and Infantry engaged and beat back the might of the ‘invincible Pakistani 1st Armoured Division’.

Pakistan lost 97 tanks in three days and their First Armoured Division ceased to exist. This was the turning point of the war which led to success in many battles fought thereafter during the war.

A 21-year-old youth from Dombivili in the district has been arrested for allegedly raping his minor sister, police said today.

As per the complaint lodged last evening by the victim, the accused also killed their mother, Police Inspector S B Shivarkar of Dombivili-East police station said.

In August this year and later on September 20, the accused allegedly raped her in their house. When she resisted, the accused threatened of dire consequences. He even attacked her using a knife, in which she sustained injuries, the officer said.

A case under section 376 (rape) and other relevant sections of IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO) has been registered, police said, adding investigations are underway.

The Bombay High Court directed Maharashtra government to file an additional affidavit within two weeks explaining under what provisions of law the police had arrested people, including couples, during a raid on hotels in suburban Malwani for alleged indecency last month.

The HC query was in response to the police raid on hotels, resorts and lodges at Madh Island on August 6 in which 61 persons, including 13 couples, were arrested under section 110 (indecent behaviour) of Bombay Police Act.

The direction was given by Justice V M Kanade and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi who were hearing a petition filed by a Khar resident Sumeer Sabharwal who termed the raids as “illegal, intrusive and unconstitutional” and sought action against the “erring” police officials.

The court also asked the state to e-mail a copy of its reply four days in advance to the petitioner’s lawyer.

“We had asked the state earlier also to explain under what provisions of law it had taken action. The government had then justified its action against people indulging in indecent behaviour saying it had received complaints from members of public. We again ask the state to clarify under what law they had acted,” the judges said.

The matter has been posted for hearing on October 16 for final disposal.

Counsel for the petitioner, Shilpi Jain, criticised the police for raiding the hotels and arresting people, thereby disturbing their privacy.

A doctor, residing in the locality, intervened saying the police raids were justified in the wake of allegations of prostitution racket thriving in the area. Another intervention application was filed by a person who has a bungalow in the locality.

Earlier, the government had contended that police had conducted raids on hotels after they received complaints from the residents of the area and the local MLA. The HC had asked the state to file an additional affidavit by September 22.

Government pleader Jayesh Yagnik today sought more time from the HC to file an additional affidavit and the judges granted two weeks.

The HC had on last occasion remarked that while there was a laudable intention behind the police raids on hotels, persons cannot be harassed and their privacy should not be invaded.

The court had also sought to know under what rules or provision of law, hotels are asked (by authorities) to take down the names and copy of identity cards of those persons who want to book a room.

Private carrier GoAir is all set to shift its departure operations to terminal IB from terminal IA of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) from Friday.

GoAir would relocate terminal for its departing flights to IB from September 25 while the arrivals will continue to operate from terminal 1A of the domestic airport till further notice from the airport operator, a spokesperson said.

“Apart from intimating our passengers of relocation of the departing flights we have also, in an industry first initiative, informed all the 15 taxi unions, auto-rickshaw operators’ associations and radio taxi operators in the city about this change,” the airline said.

It will operate eight check-in counters at IB to facilitate its passengers easy entry in the boarding area, he said.

GoAir has sent an official communication to the offices of the transport services as well as informed them via calls so that they can internally communicate the same to their drivers and make the necessary changes in their route maps to ensure seamless service to GoAir passengers who will be affected by this change, the spokesperson said.

At CSIA, while international flights take off and depart from T-2 which is at Sahar in suburb Andheri, the two domestic terminals — 1A and 1B — are situated at Santacruz.

Currently, full service carrier Jet Airways and budget airlines IndiGo and SpiceJet operate their domestic flighs from IB while national carrier Air India and GoAir have their operations from 1A.

Besides, the airline will also provide shuttle services to assist passengers who might inadvertently arrive at terminal 1A, the spokesperson said, adding GoAir customer helpline has already started sending out email and text message notifications to its passengers and will be updating its social media network and company website accordingly.

The airline also plans to place outdoor signages in and around Mumbai airport to help out-going passengers remember the change of terminal, he said.

The Bombay High Court has directed the police not to act on sedition circular issued by the Maharashtra government. A PIL had been filed in the Bombay HC challenging Maharashtra government’s recent circular which said that sedition charges can be imposed on anybody who, by words, signs or visible representation, criticises politicians or elected representatives belonging to the government.

The petitioner Narendra Sharma had contended that the circular dated August 27 amounts to violation of the fundamental rights of a person and sought the High Court’s direction to quash and set it aside.

The circular asks police to bear in mind that the sedition clause of IPC can be invoked against whoever, by “words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, dissatisfaction and provoking violence” against the central or state government.

However, the section 124-A will not be invoked against those trying to bring change in government through legal means without hatred and contempt, it said.

According to the petitioner, the circular can be misused by the police who may not have appropriate training and requisite experience to understand the consequences of imposing such stringent provisions of IPC.

The circular was issued following a direction from the Bombay High Court in March which had taken up suo moto cognizance of the issue following the arrest of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah had said sedition charges cannot be invoked on persons writing or saying anything in criticism of the government and its measures as far as it does not incite violence or cause public disorder.

A pickpocket with nearly two dozen cases on Mumbai’s congested suburban railway system behind him was finally nabbed after he dodged detection for a year, an official said on Tuesday.

Ganesh Gangurade, a mall employee in Thane, complained that on the morning of September 16 his wallet containing Rs. 10,000 in cash and some personal documents was picked from his backpack at the Ghatkopar Metro Station.

The Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) security swung into action to help him lodge a complaint with Chirag Nagar police station and also pored over CCTV footage to track the pickpocket.

After a close scrutiny, the Metro security finally zeroed in on the suspect who was in the vicinity of the 25-year-old Gangurade at that time.

The suspect’s profile and a lookout notice was circulated among the Metro security and finally on Monday morning, the culprit was apprehended.

After a thorough check, the 30-year-old suspect, Mahendra Kumar Gupta, was detained and questioned by Metro security staff, following which he broke down and confessed to his crimes.

A resident of Panvel in adjoining Raigad district, Gupta admitted to having picked pockets of over two dozen victims in the past one year or so on the Mumbai suburban railway network.

He has been handed over to Mumbai police for further action.

“We accord the highest priority to the safety and security of our passengers and their belongings. The fact that the suspect was caught… makes it clear that MMOPL is not safe for pickpockets,” an official spokesperson said.

On all the 12 stations on the city’s first Metro railway between Versova-Ghatkopar, 750 CCTVs have been installed.