Hathras case: SC to hear plea for probe today
New Delhi, July 11: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Friday a petition seeking a probe into the recent Hathras stampede that left 121 dead. The plea has sought the appointment of a five-member expert committee under the supervision of a retired apex court judge to probe the July 2 stampede incident. According to the cause list of July 12 uploaded on the apex court website, the plea is scheduled to come up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The stampede at a religious congregation in Hathras on July 2 left 121 people dead. Over 2.5 lakh devotees had gathered in Hathras district’s Phulrai village for the ‘satsang’ conducted by Baba Narayan Hari, who is also known as Saakar Vishwahari and Bhole Baba. The Uttar Pradesh Police has registered an FIR against the organisers, accusing them of hiding evidence and flouting conditions with 2.5 lakh people gathering for the event in which only 80,000 were permitted. (PTI)
Maha tables Bill to curb Naxal menace
Mumbai, July 11: The Maharashtra government on Thursday tabled a bill in the assembly aimed at preventing unlawful activities of individuals and organisations, with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stressing the need to curb the rising presence of Naxal outfits in rural and urban areas through effective legal means. Named as ‘Maharashtra Special Public Security Act 2024, this bill is seen to curb the menace of Naxalism and its sympathisers in urban areas. Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have enacted Public Security Acts for effective prevention of unlawful activities. The bill tabled in the Lower House of the state legislature describes unlawful activities as indulging in or propagating acts of violence, vandalism or other acts generating fear and apprehension in the public. (PTI)
BMW hit-&-run: Main accused was drunk at time of crash, say cops
Mumbai, July 11: Mihir Shah, the main accused in the BMW hit-and-run case and son of a Shiv Sena politician, was under the influence of alcohol when he allegedly rammed his luxury car into a two-wheeler here, killing a woman, a Mumbai police official said on Thursday. A probe team of the police recreated the accident scene in the early hours of the day to get more information about the chain of events and also confronted Mihir Shah (24) with his family driver and co-accused Rajrishi Bidawat, who was in the car at the time of the horrific crash in central Mumbai’s Worli area. A woman, Kaveri Nakhwa (45), was killed and her husband Pradip injured after their two-wheeler was hit from the rear by a BMW allegedly driven by Mihir Shah at 5:30am on Sunday in Worli’s arterial Anni Besant Road. The probe has found that Mihir Shah sped off towards the Bandra Worli Sea Link even as the woman remained on the bonnet of the car and then got entangled in its wheels for a distance of a more that 1.5 kilometres. The prime accused is in cop custody till July 16 and being questioned by a team of the Worli police, the official said. (PTI)