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A firm of Parth Pawar, son of late Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, has appealed against the notice issued by the Maharashtra registration department asking to pay stamp duty of Rs 21 crore pertaining to the sale deed of Mundhwa land by February 10, sources said. The department, in an earlier order, had asked Amadea Enterprises LLP and its partner, Digvijay Patil, to pay the stamp duty, which was waived during the execution of the sale deed for 40-acre government land, by February 10. "The deadline to pay the stamp duty was February. The firm has filed an appeal challenging the order. Now there will be a hearing before the Inspector General Registration (IGR)," said a senior official from the department on Monday. The official, however, did not elaborate on the grounds for challenging the original order seeking Rs 21 crore. Asked what action can be initiated if the stamp duty is not paid, he said that there are set procedures, such as 'revenue recovery', which involves bank account seizure an
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar was on Monday brought to a private hospital in Pune from his residence in Baramati after complaints of cough and difficulty in breathing. A CT scan was performed and there is chest infection, Ruby Hall Clinic chief cardiologist and managing trustee Dr Parvez Grant said. "After all the tests, we may admit him for a day," Dr Grant added. A team of doctors is examining him and further course of action will be taken accordingly, he said. The 85-year-old leader was brought to the hospital in the afternoon. He was accompanied by daughter and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule and her husband Sadanand Sule. Immediately after arrival from Baramati, around 100 km from Pune, the former Union minister, who lost his nephew and deputy CM Ajit Pawar in an air crash on January 28, was wheeled inside the hospital. Pawar, who came in an MPV, came out of the vehicle on his own before being taken inside the facility in a wheelchair. Pawar, an oral cancer survivor, was suffer
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator Manjusha Nagpure was elected unopposed as mayor of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Monday, while RPI (A) leader Parshuram Wadekar became deputy mayor. NCP's Shital Sawant and Congress leader Ashwini Landge withdrew from the mayoral contest, while NCP corporator Dattatray Bahirat and Congress's Sahil Kedari pulled out of the deputy mayoral race, paving the way for unopposed elections. Nagpure, a corporator from the Sinhagad area, has been closely associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. She holds a postgraduate degree in management. RPI (A) leader Wadekar, who contested last month's civic polls on a ticket of ally BJP from the Bopodi area, had filed his nomination for the post of deputy mayor. In the 165-member PMC, the BJP won 119 seats, while Ajit Pawar's NCP and Sharad Pawar-headed NCP(SP) together secured 30 seats. The Congress won 15 seats, and its ally Shiv Sena (UBT) managed just one. Union Minister and Pune Lok Sabha M
Traffic was paralysed overnight on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway after a gas tanker overturned in the Khandala Ghat section, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded and causing massive congestion on both carriageways, officials said on Wednesday. The vehicles remained stationary near the accident site for several hours, with passengers deprived of food, water, and toilet facilities. According to the expressway control room, the Mumbai-bound traffic was diverted onto the Pune-bound carriageway for about a 2-km stretch due to the gas tanker accident that occurred on Tuesday evening. However, normal movement could not be restored due to a continuous gas leak from the tanker, resulting in long queues and crawling traffic for over 12 hours, even for Pune-bound motorists, an official said. The impact was severe on motorists, with several passengers stranded for hours. As per the expressway control room, the tanker overturned on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway at around 5 pm on Tuesday. The incid
The family of one of the two engineers killed in the 2024 Pune Porsche accident has expressed disappointment over the Supreme Court granting bail to three accused of aiding the tampering of blood samples after the incident, saying it sends a wrong message to society. The case relates to the incident on May 19, 2024, when a Porsche car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy under the influence of alcohol fatally knocked down two IT professionals -- Anish Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta -- in Pune's Kalyani Nagar area. The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Amar Santish Gaikwad (alleged middleman), Aditya Avinash Sood and Ashish Satish Mittal (parents of two other juveniles in the car), while observing that parents are to be blamed for such incidents involving juveniles as they don't have control over their children. Sood and Mittal are accused of conspiracy to replace the blood samples of their children. Mittal is a friend of the main accused's father, while Sood is the father of th
The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to three accused in the 2024 Pune Porsche accident case that claimed two lives, while observing that parents are to be blamed for such incidents involving juveniles. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan observed that parents are not able to control their children. "Substance abuse is another thing but giving them (children) car keys and funds to have a gala time is unacceptable," the court observed. On January 23, the top court sought a response from the Maharashtra government on a plea filed by accused Amar Santish Gaikwad seeking bail in the case. Gaikwad represented by advocate Sana Raees Khan was alleged to be a middleman, who gave Rs 3 lakh to the assistant of a doctor in a hospital to replace a blood sample of the juvenile accused. On May 19, 2024, a Porsche allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy under the influence of alcohol, fatally knocked down two IT professionals in Pune's Kalyani Nagar area. On January 7, the top
The Pune police have launched a probe into former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar's allegations that a house help had rendered her and her parents unconscious and committed theft at their residence, an official said on Sunday. Puja Khedkar informed the police late on Saturday night about the alleged incident that occurred at the family's bungalow on Baner Road, the official said. According to police, she claimed that a house help hailing from Nepal, who had been employed recently, administered sedatives to her and her parents, Dilip and Manorama Khedkar, rendered them unconscious, tied them up, and decamped with their mobile phones and some valuables. Puja Khedkar claimed that she managed to free herself and alerted the police using another phone, the official said. Khedkar reported the incident over the phone and has not lodged a written complaint yet or provided details about any other valuables she claimed to have been stolen, the official said, adding that a probe has been ...
The NCP, led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, and the NCP (SP), headed by his uncle Sharad Pawar, on Saturday released a joint manifesto for the upcoming elections to the Pune municipal corporation. Ajit Pawar and his cousin Supriya Sule, the working president of NCP (SP), shared the dais at a joint press conference, signalling growing proximity between the two factions after a bitter split in 2023. The NCP, although a member of the ruling Mahayuti, and NCP (SP), a constituent of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, have joined hands for the January 15 elections to Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic bodies. Sule and other NCP (SP) leaders, who had largely remained absent from the campaign so far, were present at the release of the manifesto. Addressing the gathering, Ajit Pawar said the manifesto focuses on key civic issues in Pune. The poll document assures tap water supply, easing of traffic congestion, pothole-free roads, cleanliness, hi-tech healthcare services, ...
The son of a Nationalist Congress Party candidate for the Pune civic polls was booked along with 13 others on Saturday for allegedly offering inducements to voters, a police official said. The Baner police station official identified the accused as Kiran Chandere, son of Baburao Chandere, who is contesting from ward number 9 Baner-Sus-Pashan. "Kiran Chandere and 13 others were booked under sections 223, 171 and 74 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for model code of conduct violations. They were found inducing voters in Baner area. We also found a voters list and some other documents in their possession," the official said. Videos related to the incident had gone viral on social media on Friday. Polls to 29 municipal corporations, including Pune, will take place on January 15, while votes will be counted the next day. A total of 1,166 candidates are in the fray across 41 wards, which comprise 165 seats, in Pune.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said that his NCP is in talks with the Shiv Sena, led by his peer Eknath Shinde, over seat sharing for Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls. He was speaking to reporters after paying tribute at the Jay Stambh' (victory pillar) near Pune on the 208th anniversary of the Koregaon Bhima battle. Pawar said that although they are in touch with Shiv Sena over seats, the picture will be clearer after the scrutiny of nomination papers and withdrawals by candidates. Earlier, the party had said that it had tied up with Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) for the two municipal corporations. NCP and Shiv Sena are constituents of the ruling Mahayuti, along with the BJP, while the NCP (SP) belongs to the Opposition bloc Maha Vikas Aghadi. However, in this year's civic polls, state-level alliances have blurred with parties joining hands with rival camps in several cities. The nomination process for the January 15 polls began on December 23 and ended on
The Maharashtra ATS has once again taken the custody of software engineer Zubair Hangargekar, arrested two months back for alleged links with banned outfits such as Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent as well as suspected involvement in radicalisation activities. Hangargekar, who was earlier in judicial custody, was sent to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) remand till January 3 by a special court hearing cases pertaining to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). "The ATS took Hangargekar into its custody on Wednesday. The court has remanded him to the ATS custody till January 3," an official said. Under the UAPA, the maximum period of police custody for an accused in terror cases is 30 days. Hangargekar (37) was arrested on October 27 for his alleged links with banned terror outfits. "Following his arrest, Hangargekar was in the ATS custody for 18 days. He was then sent in judicial custody after the probe agency last month sought his judicial custody while ...
NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule said on Wednesday that her party won't forge an alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP for the Pune civic polls until all the doubts and apprehensions of her party workers are addressed. Speaking to reporters in Pune, Sule said they are in touch with the NCP, and potential repercussions will also be deliberated upon if both NCP groups decide to join hands. About her party's city unit president Prashant Jagtap's disappointment over the possible tie-up with Ajit Pawar's NCP for the January 15 corporation elections in Pune, Sule said she spoke to him at length and understood his apprehensions. Sule said she assured Jagtap that no ideology or party policy would be compromised if we join hands with the NCP. Jagtap's concerns were valid. His questions are absolutely valid, she added. Referring to past political developments, Sule recalled that her NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar was forced out of the Congress after he raised the issue of Sonia Gandhi's
Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate has entered into the housing plot segment to meet the rising demand and will develop its first project in Pune with a revenue potential of around Rs 600 crore. SPRE, the real estate arm of business conglomerate Shapoorji Pallonji Group, has developed many group housing projects and is now expanding its portfolio by offering residential plots to customers. On Sunday, the company announced its foray into plotted development with the launch of 'Treetopia', a premium 105-acre project in Pune. The project, comprising 483 plots, will have an "estimated revenue potential around Rs 600 crore". The project is located close to the upcoming Purandar International Airport. The plot size ranges from 2,000-6,000 square feet. The company is targeting both end users and long-term investors. Sumit Sapru, CEO of Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate (SPRE), said, "With growing interest among homebuyers in plotted developments, the launch of Treetopia marks an important step
Two cops who were suspended for alleged negligence in the investigation into last year's Porsche car crash have been dismissed from service, a top police official said on Wednesday. A Porsche car, allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy in an inebriated condition, had fatally run over two techies on a motorcycle in the Kalyani Nagar area in the early hours of May 19, 2024. Inspector Rahul Jagdale and assistant police inspector (API) Vishwanath Todkari, attached to Yerawada police station, who were already in suspension for late reporting and dereliction of duty in the accident case, have been dismissed from service, said Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar. A proposal to sack them had been sent to the home department in March 2025. An internal inquiry also pointed to lapses while registering the case and a delay in collecting blood samples, the official said. According to police, the boy's blood samples were collected at 11 am, several hours after the accident. The teenager's blo