The commuters in Maharashtra might have a hard time on Wednesday as the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has announced that it will block all national highways in the state from 9 am.

MNS Chief Raj Thackeray has assured that normal life will not be disrupted due to their protest. “We will not disrupt life in any of the cities in Maharashtra but all the highways will be blocked from 9 am tomorrow (Wednesday). I have told MNS workers not to indulge in vandalism.”

However, even as the MNS chief promised an end to vandalism of toll booths, party workers attacked a toll in Panvel on Tuesday. They had earlier attacked a toll in Uran also.

The party will march from Girgaum chowpatty to Mantralaya on February 21 over the issue. “Government says its open to talks. That is not enough. I want a time bound programme,” he said.

The Maharashtra government has decided to give class 1 and 2 jobs to the children of the martyrs of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

The decision to this effect was taken recently after Poonam Durgude, daughter of slain sub-inspector Bapurao Durgude, who was killed by the terrorists during the 2008 attacks, requested state Home Minister RR Patil to give her a class 1 or 2 job.
According to a senior official in the Home department, government jobs in class 3 and 4 categories were earlier offered under the compensation scheme to the children of martyrs.

However, when Poonam went with her request, it prompted necessary changes in the earlier government resolution (GR) to pave way for martyrs’ children to get class 1 or class 2 jobs, the official said.

“Poonam, who was given class 3 job, met Home minister R R Patil and requested him to give her class 1 or class 2 job. Considering the backdrop and gravity of the case, Patil took up the matter with Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and asked him to sensitively think over the issue,” he said.

Recently, the government also offered class 1 job to Bharti Omble, daughter of slain assistant sub-inspector Tukaram Omble, who played a pivotal role in nabbing Ajmal Kasab, the Pakistani militant who was one of the attackers.

The official said the appointment files of Bharti, who has been given job as deputy collector, and Poonam, as sales tax officer, are in the final stage.

“It is the prerogative of the respective departments to clear the file at the earliest. The process is expected to be completed soon,” he said.

“The decision has been taken only for the children of the martyrs in 26/11 terror attacks case. Those who are eligible will definitely get class 1 or class 2 jobs,” he said.

Expressing happiness over the government’s move, Poonam’s sister Neelam said, “It is great news for all of us in the family. We all are very happy. We are expecting the letter in next few days.”

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the CBI on a PIL urging probe by an independent agency into murder of anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar to find out whether Hindu right-wing activists were involved in the crime.

A division bench headed by Justice PV Hardas also allowed petitioner Ketan Tirodkar to amend his petition to include CBI as a respondent instead of National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Dabholkar, who spearheaded the anti-superstition movement in Maharashtra, was shot dead in Pune on August 20 last year. The police are still clueless about identity of the culprits.

The petitioner today urged that he wanted to amend the PIL to include CBI as a respondent. He said NIA had restricted jurisdiction as it was involved only in cases of terror, while CBI had wider powers as it probed serious crimes.

Tirodkar argued that the High Court had earlier handed over important murder cases to CBI such as the killing of RTI activist Satish Shetty and builder Amit Rane, both from Pune.

Earlier, Pune police had informed the court that there was no evidence suggesting the involvement of right-wing extremists in the killing of Dabholkar. Police also said the deceased was not facing any threat and so there was no question of police preparing a perception report (prior to the murder) and monitoring his activities.

More importantly, the contention that it was handiwork of right-wing extremists was based only on presumptions or petitioner’s own imagination which is not supported by any factual evidence, Rajendra Bhamare, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Pune Crime Branch, had said in an affidavit filed before the court.

On the last occasion, police had handed over to the bench two reports on investigations conducted so far.

Denying that his Pune team was under pressure from any political quarters, ACP Bhamare had opposed transfer of probe to NIA as the offence did not fall in the purview of NIA Act.

NIA too had taken a similar stand when it told the court earlier that it cannot probe Dabholkar’s murder as the offence fell under Indian Penal Code and was not covered by NIA Act.

In keeping with a judicial order, police on Tuesday produced before the Bombay High Court ‘Call Data Records’ of telephone talks purportedly held between senior police officers and some accused in the murder of Navi Mumbai builder Sunil Loharia.

The records, produced during the hearing of a PIL alleging police-accused nexus, contain purported telephonic talks between Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner AK Sharma and absconding accused Anurag Garg.

Accepting the CDRs, a bench headed by Justice P V Hardas asked the investigating agency to produce ‘case diaries’ in sealed covers by February 25.

The bench also asked police to flag those pages in the case diaries which pertain to investigation of telephonic talks between police officers and the accused.

The court was hearing a petition filed by ex-scribe Ketan Tirodkar, who prayed for transfer of investigations to an independent agency such as CBI as he alleged that the accused were allegedly shielded by police.

Tirodkar alleged that there was evidence with the investigating authorities to show that the Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner and a senior police inspector were in touch with the accused before and after Loharia’s murder in February 2013.

Earlier, the prosecution had informed the court that the statements of police officers were yet to be recorded and that steps were being taken to declare absconding accused as proclaimed offenders and attach their properties, so as to compel them to appear before the trial court.

The petitioner alleged that rival builder Suresh Bijlani and architect Anurag Garg, both accused in the case, were spotted by Loharia’s son in the police station where he had gone to lodge a complaint. Bijlani has since been arrested while Garg is still absconding.

A senior police inspector had also refused to name these two accused in the FIR, Tirodkar alleged. Investigations in this case were earlier being made by Navi Mumbai police but later the probe was given to Mumbai Crime Branch.

The petitioner said Loharia was shot dead outside his Navi Mumbai office on February 16 last year. On the next day, he claimed, there were five telephonic conversations between the Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner and accused Suresh Bijlani and Anurag Garg, lasting from 80 seconds to 100 seconds on cell phone.

Tirodkar said police had recorded such talks and were aware about this. Two days after Loharia’s murder, the police chief issued a look out notice against Bijlani and Garg, although the duo were very much accessible to him, going by the telephone records police have collected during the probe, he alleged.

Tirodkar contended that no efforts were being made to conduct a sincere probe as senior police officials were allegedly involved.

On the contrary, he alleged, efforts were being made to shield the guilty. Hence, he was demanding a CBI probe into Loharia’s murder.

The petitioner said Loharia had himself filed a petition in the High Court alleging 600 illegal constructions in Navi Mumbai, including the 21 towers being built illegally on the Palm Beach Road.

Loharia had also urged the court that his petition be heard expeditiously as his life was in danger. Four days after that he was killed, Tirodkar said and produced a letter written by the victim in this regard to the court registrar.

Tirodkar further alleged that Loharia’s son had also received a threat on phone warning him against lodging a police complaint.

The petitioner also alleged that political pressure had been put on deceased Loharia by a Maharashtra Cabinet Minister asking him not to take up the issue of illegal construction.