Siddharth Das, who claims to be the biological father of Sheena Bora, who is believed to have been killed by her mother and media tycoon Indrani Mukerjea and her ex-husband, on Tuesday said that he will fully cooperate with the Mumbai Police, which is trying to crack the murder mystery.

Das, who had appeared before the national media nearly a week after the sensational Sheena Bora murder case grabbed the spotlight, said that his former live-in partner Indrani Mukherjea should be given stringent punishment if she is found guilty.

“I don’t know whether she has committed the crime but if she (Indrani) has done it, I pray to God that she should be given the most stringent punishment,” Das, who claimed to have lived here since 1998, said.

Das also said that he had never officially married Indrani and if she “had murdered (Sheena), she must be hanged”.

He further claimed that Mumbai Police did not contact him and he came to know about the case from media.

“I am ready to cooperate with them anytime they call me,” he said.

When asked if he had tipped off the Mumbai Police about Indrani, he denied saying, “I only got to know about the case through media. How can I do this when I had no contacts with her”

Asked why he had been silent since Indrani’s arrest on August 25 for allegedly murdering Sheena, he said, “I have a family and I do a small job. I feared that it may get disturbed.”

Das claimed that he and Indrani used to live together at her place and Sheena was born in February, 1987 while Mikhail was born in September the next year.

He claimed that Indrani left him in 1989 but “no reason was given by her. May be she was not satisfied with the status I was having”.

On why he did not take the responsibility of raising Sheena and Mikhail, Das said, “They were at in my in-laws’ place. They wanted to keep them. I wanted to take care of them but I was not given a chance”.

Das said that he had spoken to Sheena when she was in tenth standard.

When asked why he didn’t try to establish contact with his children, Das said, “I wasn’t financially sound to be able to fulfil their needs.”

I work in a small company, I’m not a high profile man, I’m a very simple man, if I show my face I might be sacked, Das said while replying to a question why he was covering his face when he has nothing to hide.

Meanwhile, a woman, claiming to be wife of Das, said she did not know about the past relationship of Das and Indrani but she stands by her husband.

The Bombay High Court Tuesday expressed concern over failure of authorities in adopting norms of solid waste management and asked Maharashtra government to decide within a week the civic body’s proposal to increase the capacity of Kanjurmarg dumping ground.

The judges said the situation was very alarming as the rules of waste management were not being followed at the dumping grounds and the state should consider providing alternative land for dumping.

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai told the HC that every day 3,000 metric tonnes of waste are transported to Kanjurmarg dumping ground.

The three dumping grounds in the city — Kanjurmarg, Mulund and Deonar — receive 10,000 metric tonnes of solid waste a day. Mulund and Deonar sites would soon be closed because lease of respective lands expires in November, so the capacity of Kanjurmarg site must be increased, MCGM said.

The division bench, headed by Justice Abhay Oka, was hearing a bunch of PILs alleging that solid waste management rules are not followed at the dumping grounds, leading to pollution. Some PILs filed by local residents want dumping grounds to be shifted because of the foul smell they produce.

The MCGM said its proposal to augment capacity of Kanjurmarg ground to 6,500 metric tonnes by installing modern plants and equipment was pending with the state government.

The court then asked the state government to inform by September 10 its decision on this proposal.

MCGM proposes to hand over the Kanjurmarg site to a private contractor on `build, operate and transfer’ basis. To give the land at concessional rate to the contractor, it needs state government’s permission.

The Bombay High Court dismissed a petition seeking direction to the Union government to expeditiously take a decision on declaring nuclear scientist Homi Bhabha’s bungalow ‘Meherangir’ at Malabar Hill here as a national monument.

Raam Dhuri, president of National Forum for Aided Institutions Employees (Department of Atomic Energy), in his petition had also sought direction to the purchasers (through auction) of the sprawling bungalow not to carry out any demolition or repair work pending decision from the Centre.

A division bench of justices S C Dharmadhikari and B P Colabawalla while dismissing the petition took into consideration an order passed by another bench of the high court in a similar petition. The high court had then directed the petitioners to approach the Centre.

Dhuri approached the high court in July after the Centre failed to take any decision.

Recently, the Charity Commissioner allowed National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), to whom the property was bequeathed, to go ahead with the sale of the bungalow.

Senior counsel Rajiv Chavan, appearing for the petitioner, had argued that the bungalow has historical significance as regards to the person who visited it, including the first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and it should be preserved.

The sprawling sea-facing Malabar Hill bungalow was recently auctioned for over Rs 300 crore by the NCPA, its custodian.

The Bombay High Court directed Mumbai civic body BMC to forward a proposal to the Maharashtra government seeking allotment of land for night shelters which can be used by homeless people.

A division bench headed by Justice A S Oka asked Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to forward its proposal to the state government’s Urban Development Department within a fortnight. The government has been directed to then take a decision on the issue by October 17.

The court said the government shall consider earmarking sites for construction of night shelters.

The directions were passed during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by NGO ‘Homeless Collective’ highlighting the plight of pavement dwellers. The petition has sought directions to the civic and state authorities to identify homeless persons and ensure adequate night shelters for them.

“Non-compliance of our orders will be considered seriously,” the court said.

The petitioner maintained that for every one lakh population in a city, there should be one night shelter as per the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM).

According to that norm, Mumbai should have 207 shelters.

However, only nine night shelters are operating at the moment as opposed to the 25 that were promised in 2012, the PIL said.

One person was killed and two others were seriously injured in a low intensity blast at a scrap shop at Kondhwa on Tuesday.

The reason behind the blast which occurred near Khadi machine square in the area is being investigated, city police control room said.

“One of the workers at the shop died because of the blast and two more are injured. We are investigating the reason behind the blast. No cylinders were involved according to the reports we have received so far,” an official of Kondhwa police station was quoted as saying.

In another incident, a two-wheeler rider was injured in a blast, reportedly set off by some chemical explosives wrapped to his bike at Narayangaon village in the district today, rural police said.

The explosion happened when the bike owner – Devidas Kale – tried to start the vehicle this morning.

The police is investigating the incident and the type of chemicals used to trigger the blast.

The state government on Tuesday gave a nod to an ordinance for amending the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act, under which sand mafia will not get bail for one year after arrest.

The decision was taken at the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

“Culprits arrested in illegal sand mining cases will not get bail for one year after their arrest,” state Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse told reporters while informing about the government’s nod for the ordinance to amend the MPDA Act.

Meanwhile, in view of acute water scarcity, the government is considering ban on sugarcane crushing and prohibiting water for its production, said Khadse, who is also the state agriculture minister.

Cloud-seeding, a form of weather modification is being conducted in the state for last one month.

“The procedure would continue till October end and so far there has been 60 per cent success,” he said.

To a question on the demand for renaming Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar, Khadse said the decision to rename the place was taken by the earlier Sena-BJP government.

“However, the decision could not be implemented as it was challenged in court. Later, the Congress-NCP assumed power and nothing was done,” the minister said.

“I am of the view that the name should be changed. But, no steps are being taken at the government level as yet. I will request the Chief Minister to bring a proposal in the cabinet. If the need arises, we will ask for views of the people,” he said.

All police stations in Mumbai are set to be brought under a proposed network of CCTV cameras, a move that will check custodial deaths and encourage citizens to freely approach police for filing complaints.

Maharashtra Home Department is in the process of formulating a plan to install CCTV cameras all over the financial capital in a bid to strengthen security apparatus. It is now considering to extend the network to cover all police stations.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) K P Bakshi said there are 99 police stations in Mumbai and a minimum of five cameras would be needed in each of them.

“The CCTVs can cover the area outside the police station, lock-up, main hall where the citizens come to file complaints. Such a system will help check custodial deaths and allow activities in a police station to be monitored by higher ups. The officer concerned in a police station better not misbehave with the citizens,” he said.

“This step will give immense confidence to the aggrieved citizens, who otherwise appear reluctant to approach the police, and get their grievances addressed. They appear unwilling because they don’t know how they would be treated at the police station,” he said.

Bakshi said a total of 6,000 CCTVs are proposed to be installed in Mumbai. “If the police stations are covered, around 500 additional cameras would be required. This would entail extra financial burden of around Rs. 16 to Rs. 20 crore (Rs. 7 to 8 lakh per police station).”

Bakshi said he has asked Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria to submit a proposal in this regard.

“The work is being done expeditiously and I should get the proposal with a fortnight’s time,” he added.

The top Home Department official said said Pune would also be covered under the network and that city’s police chief is expected to submit his proposal in a month’s time. “For Pune, the additional financial burden would be about Rs. 2 crore,” Bakshi added.

Welcoming the Centre’s decision not to re-promulgate the land ordinance, NDA constituent Shiv Sena termed it as “victory” of farmers and said had the Bill been passed, it would have given industrialists a “wholesale” license to trade the fertile land of farmers.

Facing sustained onslaught for promulgating the land ordinance thrice in the past, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Sunday announced that it will not be promulgated for the fourth time.

“The government has given up its insistence on passing the Land Acquisition Bill, a move that we welcome. This is a victory of farmers and labourers,” an editorial in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said.

“An environment of fear had been created in the minds of farmers by the Opposition which led them to think that some points in the Bill were anti-India and anti-farmer and were only meant for industrialists,” it said.

Even NDA constituents like the Shiv Sena and Akali Dal also opposed the Bill, it said, adding that the Opposition parties were not the only ones against it.

“We openly opposed the Bill as we did not want industrialists and government agencies to get a wholesale license to trade the fertile lands of farmers. Agriculture plays an important role in the development of the country. Ignoring farmers would mean deceiving the motherland,” the ruling alliance partner said.

The editorial also questioned the Centre on providing financial stability and social importance to farmers.

“Farmers today have no financial stability, nor do they have any social importance. What does the government plan to do about it?” it asked.

“We do not think that increasing the wealth of select industrialists multi-fold means development of the nation,” the Sena said.

It would have been better if the clash on the Land Acquisition Bill had been avoided by the government, the party further said.