Half-sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Mohan Gavit, along with their mother Anjanabai and Renuka’s husband Kiran, were arrested in Nashik in 1996 for kidnapping a girl – an arrest that led to startling revelations of spine-chilling crimes that still haunt people in western Maharashtra.Police Inspector Mandaleshwar Madhavrao Kale, who was investigating the kidnapping case of a nine-year old in Nashik in October 1996, had said that he had no idea the probe would reveal that the trio had, in a span of six years, kidnapped at least 13 children and murdered nine of them.The nine-year-old girl, who was kidnapped, was the daughter of Mohan Gavit, one of Anjanabai’s two husbands, from another marriage. During a search of the house of the accused in Nashik, the police found several discarded clothes of small children and photographs of birthday celebrations of Renuka’s children that showed the presence of several other kids who were not locals. Suspecting something amiss, the police began an investigation to trace the children.The police found out that the three women had a pick-pocketing gang. They also learnt that the nine-year-old child was dumped in a sugarcane field near Pune and the trio returned after a few months without knowing that Mohan’s wife had lodged a kidnapping complaint against them.After an initial probe, the case was taken over by the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Suhas Nadgauda, who is currently a senior police officer in Pune Police, was part of the investigating team in the case. According to Nadgauda, it was an extensive investigation spread over multiple locations in western Maharashtra and nearly 156 prosecution witnesses were examined during the trial. Most of the children kidnapped and murdered by the trio were from poor families, he said.The police believed that the trio were involved in more than 40 cases of kidnapping and murder. However, due to the absence of electronic clues, the police could only get sufficient evidence in some cases.The probe revealed that Anjanabai had started indulging in petty street thefts by using her daughters as bait or distraction. The trio were habitual thieves and police had caught them on several occasions. However, they used to allegedly bribe the officials and escape.In 1990, Renuka, along with her child went to a temple which had a large gathering and tried to snatch a purse from a man but he caught her. Renuka made a hue and cry and questioned how he could catch her. People around her let her off, seeing the mother and the toddler. Renuka narrated the incident to her sister and told them how she managed to escape as she had her minor son with her. Thereafter, they would have a child with them at the time of committing the crime to easily escape from the crowd, police said.They conspired to kidnap small children below five years of age, use them while committing thefts and then murder them when they no longer remained useful, the investigation revealed. The accused thought this would be the only way to evade arrests.The probe revealed that their first such victim was a one-year-old boy who was picked up by Renuka from a female beggar in July, 1990. They brought him to Pune and named him Santosh. In April 1991, they took him to Kolhapur where Seema was caught while trying to steal a devotee’s purse at Mahalaxmi temple. Anjanabai intervened and threw Santosh on the ground, following which he sustained injuries. That distracted the crowd and Seema could escape. After committing two-three more such thefts, they killed Santosh as he would keep crying due to his injuries and it would lead to them being caught by the police. They disposed of the dead body near the State Transport bus stand at Kolhapur, the probe revealed.The police found that the trio, with the help of Kiran, who later turned approver in the case, had kidnapped at least 13 children and killed 9 of them and attempted to kidnap one more child. These incidents took place between June 1990 and October 1996 in Pune, Thane, Kalyan, Kolhapur and Nashik. They kept roaming around Western Maharashtra, including areas near Mumbai, by attending fairs, festivals and processions at landmark temples, train stations, bus stands and gardens and made a living out of stealing valuables from the crowded areas.Anjanabai, Renuka and Seema were arrested, along with Kiran, in November 1996. Anjanabai, who was nearly 50, died in prison due to illness prior to the commencement of trial. The sessions court in Kolhapur sentenced the two half-sisters to death in 2001 for kidnapping and murdering six children and the Bombay High Court upheld the sentence for five murders in 2004. The Supreme Court in 2006 upheld the death sentence and the President of India rejected their mercy plea in 2014.Over 25 years after their arrests, the Bombay High Court earlier this year commuted their death sentences to life imprisonment and pulled up the state machinery for “laxity and indifference” in deciding their mercy plea.
MUMBAI: The cyber police are conducting a probe to track down the culprits behind circulation of recent fake videos and audio clips on social media about children being kidnapped from outside their buildings or school premises in several localities of Mumbai. JCP (Law & Order) Vishwas Nangre Patil has urged the people not to believe such rumours and fake news.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 602 new coronavirus positive cases and three deaths, which raised its caseload to 81,15,542 and toll to 1,48,310, the state health department said. There was a slight drop in the number of cases on Sunday as compared to the previous day, when the state had recorded 631 cases along with three fatalities. The highest number of 239 cases were detected in the Mumbai circle, followed by 191 in Pune circle, 51 in Nagpur, Nashik 38, Kolhapur 29, Aurangabad eight, Latur and Amrawati circles 23 each, the department said. Two deaths were reported in Mumbai city, while another one was recorded in Ratnagiri district under Kolhapur circle, it said. At least 621 patients recuperated from the infection in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries in the state to 79,62,692. The state currently has 4,540 active cases, of which Pune accounts for 1,222, followed by 1,071 in Mumbai district and 744 in Thane district. Maharashtra's recovery rate stands at 98.12 per cent, while the fatality rate is 1.82 per cent, the department said. As 22,212 swab samples were tested in the last 24 hours, the overall test count went up to 8,45,38,001 in the state, it added. The coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive cases 81,15,542; new cases 602; death toll 1,48,310; recoveries 79,62,692; active cases 4,540; total tests 8,45,38,001.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Saturday recorded 631 fresh Covid-19 cases and three fatalities that raised the tally to 81,14,940 and the toll to 1,48,307, a state health department official said. There has been a slight drop in the daily cases compared to Friday when 697 infections were reported along with two fatalities. As per the data shared by the department, the highest 293 cases were detected in Mumbai circle, followed by 184 in Pune circle, Kolhapur 39, Nagpur 38, Nashik 24, Latur 19, Akola 17 and Aurangabad 17. Mumbai, Latur and Kolhapur circles reported a single fatality each, it stated. At least 789 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries in Maharashtra to 79,62,071, the report stated. The state currently has 4,562 active cases, of which Pune accounts for 1,161, followed by 1,154 in Mumbai district and 812 in Thane district. Maharashtra's recovery rate stands at 98.1 per cent, while fatality rate is at 1.82 per cent. With 24,309 swab samples tested in the last 24 hours, the number of samples examined so far for coronavirus went up to 8,45,15,789 in the state, the data revealed. Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive cases 81,14,940; fresh cases 631; death toll 1,48,307; recoveries 79,62,071; active cases 4,562; total tests 8,45,15,789.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded 1,600 fresh coronavirus cases, while five more patients succumbed to the infection in the state, the health department said. With these additions, the state's overall Covid-19 tally rose to 81,00,338, while the death toll increased to 1,48,247, said the department in a bulletin. On Tuesday, the state had recorded 1,444 cases and eight fatalities linked to the viral infection. Mumbai alone recorded 638 fresh cases and four fatalities, while Kolhapur district registered one death related to coronavirus, said the bulletin. The coronavirus fatality rate in the state stood at 1.83%, while the recovery rate was 98.04%, said the department. It said 1,864 patients recovered from the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 79,41,458 and leaving the with 10,633 active cases. According to the bulletin, 30,856 tests were conducted in the state in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of swab samples examined so far in the state to 8,41,24,382.
NEW DELHI: India's Covid-19 tally increased to 4,44,28,393 with 7,231 new infections recorded every day, but the number of active cases decreased to 64,667, according to the data by Union health ministry published on Wednesday. The death toll from the pandemic rose to 5,27,874 when 45 additional people died in last 24 hours. The number includes 10 deaths reconciled by Kerala, according to statistics updated at 8 am. According to the government, active cases account for 0.15 percent of total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has climbed to 98.67%. A drop of 1,065 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 case count in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.05 per cent. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.55 per cent, according to the health ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,38,35,852, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry, 212.39 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020; 30 lakh on August 23; 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28; 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29; 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed one crore on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore coronavirus cases on May 4, three crore on June 23 last year and four crore on January 25 this year. The 35 new fatalities include eight from Maharashtra, five each from Delhi and Karnataka, three from Punjab, two each from Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and one each from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Odisha, Sikkim and West Bengal.
PUNE: The Pune Metropolitan Region on Sunday recorded 271 new Covid cases. There were no deaths. Most of the new cases were from PMC areas (146). Pimpri Chinchwad recorded 87 cases. Another 38 new cases were from Pune rural and cantonment areas. There are less than 100 Covid patients currently in hospitals in the PMR (96, as of Sunday). Some 1,700 people are in home isolation. Statewide, there were five deaths recorded on Sunday - all senior citizens from Mumbai with underlying medical conditions (three were above 80 years of age). The state added 1,639 new Covid-19 cases. Maharashtra has so far registered 80,96,484 confirmed cases and 1,48,229 casualties. Currently, it has a total of 11,679 active cases (1,698 patients were also discharged on Sunday across the state). Health officials have urged citizens to take certain precautionary measures during the festive season, calling for masks and physical distancing in crowded areas.
NEW DELHI: Fresh cases of Covid-19 in India fell to an 11-week low, with detected infections in the week ending Sunday falling below 70,000 and the daily average cases under 10,000 for the first time in nearly three months. However, there was no decline in the number of deaths from the virus as over 275 new fatalities were reported in the week (August 22-28), nearly the same as in the previous seven days (278), as per TOI’s Covid database. These figures exclude deaths from earlier months added to the toll during this period. India reported over 66,000 fresh cases in the week, down nearly 18% from the 80,617 logged in the previous seven days. This was the lowest weekly tally of cases since June 6-12, when 48,769 cases were recorded. While infections fell compared to the previous week in a majority of states and UTs, there were some notable exceptions like Kerala, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. Kerala posted a 12.5% rise in infections, recording 7,863 cases as opposed to 6,990 last week. Cases had been declining in the state for the last seven weeks. Infections remained flat in Maharashtra, with the state reporting 12,101 new cases, the highest in the country and 0.5% more than the previous week’s tally. By contrast, Delhi registered a sharp 48% drop in cases. The capital logged 4,821 cases as compared to 9,228 last week. However, there was no decline in the number of Covid deaths, with 38 people succumbing to the virus in the city as opposed to 39 in the previous week. In the week before that, Delhi had recorded 51 fatalities. Maharashtra recorded 34 Covid deaths in the week, up from 24. Kerala continued to report the highest number of fatalities— 43 this week, down from 53 last week. Deaths remained relatively high in Karnataka (24), Bengal and Punjab (19 each), Haryana (15), and Rajasthan (14). Active cases continued to drop in the country, with TOI’s data showing around 70,000 active infections on Sunday night, although the government’s data showed a higher figure (around 85,000).
MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Sunday reported 1,639 Covid-19 cases and five fatalities, taking the tally to 80,96,484 and the toll to 1,48,229, the state health department said. Of the new cases, Mumbai saw 610 infections and four deaths due to COVID-19. Another fatality due to coronavirus infection was reported from Beed district in the Marathwada region. A total of 1, 698 patients were discharged on Sunday after treatment, raising the count of recoveries to 79,36,576, leaving the state with 11,679 active cases, the department said. With the fresh additions, the overall tally of coronavirus cases in Mumbai mounted to 11,42,396 and the death toll to 19,688. Mumbai region saw 1,105 fresh cases, taking the tally of the total infections in the region to 23,66,475 and the death toll to 40,035, the department said. Nashik division added 65 cases, Pune division 284, Kolhapur division 57, Aurangabad division 29, Latur division 36, Akola division 16, and Nagpur division 47 cases. With 29,010 tests conducted on Sunday, the number of samples examined so far in Maharashtra went up to 8,40,50,407.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Saturday reported 1,723 Covid-19 cases and six deaths, which took the tally to 80,94,845 and the toll to 1,48,224, a health official said. This was a drop from the 1,846 cases recorded a day earlier, though the fatalities were higher, he pointed out. Of the new cases, Mumbai Circle accounted for 1,144 cases, followed by 264 in Pune Circle, 154 in Nashik Circle, 58 in Kolhapur Circle, 43 in Nagpur Circle, 39 in Latur Circle, 12 in Aurangabad Circle and nine in Akola Circle. Five deaths took place in Mumbai Circle and one in Nagpur, he added. The recovery count increased by 1,845 in the last 24 hours to touch 79,34,878, leaving the state with an active caseload of 11,743, he said. Mumbai accounted for 5,177 of the active cases, followed by 2,449 in Thane and 1,803 in Pune districts, the official added. State health department data revealed the recovery rate was 98.02 per cent and the fatality rate stood at 1.83 per cent. The positivity rate was 4.48 per cent, while the overall number of coronavirus tests conducted so far was 8,40,21,397, including 38,421 in the last 24 hours. Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive cases 8094845; fresh cases 1723; death toll 148224; recoveries 79,34,878; active cases 11743; total tests 8,40,21,397.
