India becoming epicentre of heart diseases, says top doctor

Thane, Feb 28: Former BJP MLA Narendra Mehta was on Friday charged for allegedly  raping and harassing a woman corporator in Bhayandar, which is in the Thane district near Mumbai, on Friday, police said.

His associate Sanjay Tharthare has also been charged in the case, they said.

The district rural police lodged an FIR against Narendra Mehta, who resigned from the BJP three days ago, and his associate, an official from the Mira-Bhayandar police station said.

No arrest has been made till now.

A video of the corporator purportedly speaking about the alleged harassment and abuse she suffered at the hands of Narendra Mehta went viral on social media two days ago, the official said.

The corporator has alleged that the abuse is going on since 1999 and her family is facing threats from him, he added.

Narendra Mehta and Sanjay Tharthare were charged under relevant section of the Indian Penal Code for rape and other relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, he said.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik demanded the immediate arrest of Narendra Mehta, saying it is a "tragedy" that the BJP, which raises the issue of women's safety in the state, has not taken any action against its leader.

"Law and order issue will arise if such a person (facing rape and harassment charges) roams freely. He should be arrested as soon as possible," Mr Sarnaik said.

The Thane legislator also termed Narendra Mehta as "Marathi-hater" and alleged that he had once questioned Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's culture.

"I wonder why the BJP did not take strict action against Mehta, it needs to introspect," Mr Sarnaik said.

New Delhi, May 30: India witnessed the highest ever spike of 7,964 coronavirus positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 1,73,763, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With as many as 265 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the death toll due to the virus now stands at 4,971.

Out of the total number of coronavirus cases, 86,422 are active and 82,370 have been cured/discharged/migrated.

Among the states, Maharashtra remains the worst-affected with 62,228 COVID-19 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (20,246), Delhi (17,386) and Gujarat (15,934).

The fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown imposed as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 is slated to end on Sunday.

Noida, Jul 16: A key aide of 1993 Mumbai blasts case convict Abu Salem who worked in his illegal property business in NCT of Delhi has been arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh police, officials said on Thursday.

Gajendra Singh, who was also close to gangster Khan Mubarak, was nabbed in Mumbai late Wednesday night by the Noida unit of the STF, they said.

"Gajendra Singh had taken Rs 1.80 crore from a Delhi-based businessman in 2014 in a property-related case. When he was pressured to return the money, Singh had Khan Mubarak's shooters open fire at the businessman in sector 18 of Noida," Additional Superintendent of Police, STF, Raj Kumar Mishra said.

The businessman was in his car when the attack took place, and he narrowly escaped, the officials said.

Mishra said Singh had paid the shooters Rs 10 lakh, and the agency has cracked the money trail of the transaction.

"Gajendra Singh also invested Abu Salem and Khan Mubarak's money into properties in Delhi-NCR," the officer added.

Singh was wanted in a couple of cases registered at a police station in Noida where he has been lodged now for further proceedings, the STF said.