In view of the Ganesh festival, the Western Railway (WR) will run Ganapati Special trains to Ratnagiri, Madgaon and Mangalore.

The trains shall be fully reserved and the fares chargeable will be inclusive of special charges.

WR in a statement issued today said, train no – 00115 Vasai Road – Mangalore Express will leave Vasai Road on September, 11th, 16th and 26th at 1.45 PM and reach Mangalore Junction at 11 AM next day.

Similarly train no – 00116 Mangalore – Vasai Road Express will leave Mangalore junction on September, 12th, 17th and 27th at 6 PM and will arrive at Vasai Road at 1 PM next day.

Train no 00117 – Vasai Road – Ratnagiri Express will leave Vasai Road on September, 13th, 14th, 18th, 19th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 28th and 29th at 1.45 PM and reach Ratnagiri at 10 PM on the same day.

Train No 00118 Ratnagiri-Vasai Road Express will leave Ratnagiri on September, 14th, 19th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 29th at 5 AM and will arrive Vasai Road at 1 PM the same day.

Train no – 00111 Vasai Road–Madgaon Express will leave Vasai Road on September 24 at 1.45 PM and reach Madgaon at 3 AM, the next day, while train no – 00112 Madgaon- Vasai Road Express will leave Madgaon on September, 11th, 16th, 21st and 26th September at 12.15 midnight and will arrive Vasai Road at 1 PM on the same day.

The booking for train no –  00115, 00117 and 00111 will be opened from September 10 at all Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters and IRCTC website, it added.

A special women’s court sentenced a man to life imprisonment for raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl in Nehru Nagar area of suburban Kurla in 2010.

Special Judge Vrushali Joshi had convicted Javed Sheikh (aged around 25) on September 5 for the crime.

“The court has sentenced Javed Sheikh to life on the charges of kidnapping, rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in June 2010,” Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said.

Gharat told outside the court that the sentence implies that the convict would have to spend his life in jail till death.

Sheikh was arrested on July 1, 2010 on charges of raping and killing the minor girl.

The prosecution examined 26 witnesses, while the defence examined 4 witnesses in connection with the case.

The girl’s body was found inside an unoccupied shanty in Nehru Nagar’s Vatsalatai Nagar slum on June 19, 2010, after the neighbours complained of foul smell. The girl had gone missing on June 5 that year.

The medical report confirmed that the girl had been raped following which Sheikh, an employee of a local cable operator, was arrested in the case.

The police had in August 2010 filed a 325-page charge sheet against Sheikh which consisted of statements of around 45 witnesses, medical reports, forensic reports and DNA test report.

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) today assured the Bombay High Court that it would take steps to ensure that vehicular traffic is not affected during the week-long ‘Mount Mary Fair’ in suburban Bandra from September 13.

The fair, held to celebrate the birthday of Mother Mary, draws huge crowds every year from all parts of the city and nearby places and is considered as a historic event by members of all communities.

“Measures would be taken to remove illegal stalls and hawkers on or along the Mount Mary Road and adjoining Kane Road, Rebello Road and St John Baptisa Road during the festival,” an affidavit filed by the civic body said.

It further assured that permissions granted for erecting stalls, as per the policy, would not obstruct free movement of pedestrians.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Lillian Pais, a resident of Bandra, praying that authorities may be directed to take steps to ensure that vehicular and pedestrian traffic was not disturbed due to the fair.

The civic body also assured that it would post officers with demolition squad for expeditious removal of unauthorised stalls which are not granted permission for the Mount Mary fair in and around the vicinity.

The affidavit, filed by Assistant Commissioner Vijay Kamble, also said that names and other particulars of officers shall be displayed at suitable places on the roads so that complaints by members of public can be registered with them.

The Bombay High Court sought to know from the Maharashtra government as to what steps it has taken in compliance of a 2009 Supreme Court order directing it to demolish all illegal shrines erected post its order.

A division bench of justices A S Oka and V L Achliya also referred to an order passed by it in March this year asking the government to set up a district-wise coordination committee for categorisation of shrines that were erected prior to 2009.

The high court had in its March order also asked the government to demolish all illegal shrines that came up post the SC order in 2009.

The directions were given on a public interest litigation by an NGO ‘Society for Fast Justice’ against illegal shrines in the city.

The court was today informed that the coordination committee was set up on July 15, this year.

“In March we passed order and the committee was set up only in July. What has the committee done till date? Has it had any meetings? We want you (government) to submit the minutes of the meeting. We also want to know how many illegal shrines have been demolished so far?” the court said posting the matter for hearing on September 16.

Pursuant to the SC order, a state Government Resolution (GR) of May 5, 2011 had prescribed a well-defined scheme for appropriate action against unauthorised religious structures in terms of regularisation, relocation and removal.

The GR also suggested that a three-tier committee be set up — state-wise, at district level and in corporations, including Mumbai, Thane and Pune ?- for relevant action.

It said that illegal and unauthorised shrines erected after September 29, 2009 had to be demolished.

A 40-year-old food stall owner sustained critical burns while two others were seriously injured in an alleged attack by a group of persons in Thane’s Ulhasnagar township, police said on Wednesday.

The accused last night attacked the victims — Ramprasad Gupta (owner of a roadside egg stall) and Babu Kulal (62) and his son Santosh (33) (both of whom ran a grocery shop) — upon a suspicion that they had complained to police about them in connection with some issue, said senior inspector KD Jadhav of Ulhasnagar police.

It was at around 10.30 pm. When 7-8 persons, one of whom was identified as Yogesh Shinde, allegedly attacked the trio with swords and other weapons in the Hanuman Tekadi area of Ulhasnagar, added sub-inspector ML Pandav.

The assailants are also alleged to have caught hold of Gupta and set him on fire after dousing him with petrol. Gupta got badly burnt while Kulal and his son suffered serious injuries to their hands, Pandav said.

The three victims were later admitted to hospital where Gupta’s condition is stated to be critical, he added.

A case has been registered under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house, etc), 143, 147 (rioting), 148, 149 and 427 of IPC and also under the relevant provisions of the Arms Act and Bombay Police Act, the SI said.

Efforts are on to track down the accused, police said.

In more trouble for Indrani Mukerjea, her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyam Rai, Mumbai Police have gathered concrete evidence in connection with the sensational Sheena Bora murder case.

According to Mumbai Police sources Indrani’s gmail account password has been recovered. The investigators have found three crucial mails dated 8 March, 4 May and 7 August (2012).

The emails give a hindsight of the planning of the murder.

The police officials have recovered the details of chat between Indrani and her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna done on social networking website Skype.

The officials have also located three pair of shoes in Kolkata, which the accused were wearing on the day when Sheena’s body was taken to Raigad forest.

Besides this, the investigators have also found Sheena’s earrings, which she was wearing on the day of her murder.

Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her former driver Shyamvar Rai have been arrested on the charge of murdering Sheena and disposing of the body in a Raigad forest in April 2012.

The driver SP Rai and Khanna are believed to have told police that Indrani, wife of former Star CEO Peter Mukherjea, had done a recce of the place in Raigad district (near Mumbai) where Sheena’s body was to be dumped a day before the murder on April 24, 2012.