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Big story

Man makes hoax call to stop friend from leaving city

Friend owed Kabir Hussain money but did not pay up; Hussain hoped to detain him if all flights were cancelled.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It doesn’t pay to lie, quite literally. A Bhendi Bazaar resident, Kabir Hussain (38) found this out yesterday after he made a hoax call to the airport to stop his friend from flying to Guwahati – the friend owed Hussain Rs 3,00,000 and was to meet him at the airport to pay him, but when he didn’t show up, Hussain decided to make the hoax call and get all outbound flights grounded.

Unluckily for him, he was nabbed just a day after he made the call on Monday. Hussain is a travel agent with an office based in Mumbra; he made the call from the airport’s vicinity.

On Monday, Hussain made the call a little after 7 pm, telling the help desk at Terminal 1B that, “Airport ka aaj raat ko 7 aur 10 ke beech mein naksha badalnewala hai. Airport mein bomb rakha hai (The airport is going to be destroyed between 7 pm to 10 pm. There is a bomb at the airport.” However, security agencies didn’t find anything amiss after an extensive search. A complaint was registered by the airport police station and the Mumbai Crime Branch also began probing the incident.

Based on a tip-off, Crime Branch Unit 8’s Deepak Patangre laid a trap and apprehended Hussain from Vile Parle yesterday. The Samsung Duos phone that he used to make the call was also seized. Hussain is in the business of arranging jobs for youth abroad.  He has been booked under the IT Act and the Suppression of Unlawful Act Against Safety of Civil Aviation.

(Picture courtesy elenajames34.blogspot.com)

 

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Deal with it

Only ‘patrolling’ now for couples’ safety on seashores

But cops insist that the move is for the couples’ safety and not to infringe on their privacy. Okay, then.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

If you’re looking for some ‘quiet time’ with your partner at one of the city’s beaches, don’t look for a spot away from the crowd. You might as well mill about with others and go home early, because couples sitting at isolated spots are soon going to have the cops breathing down their necks and shattering any privacy they might have hoped to get.

Recently, Thane was rocked by reports of how policemen were rounding up couples out of doors after dark or meeting in relatively isolated places, before taking them to the police station and calling their parents. Just when the outrage over those incidents was dying down, the Mumbai Police announced its plan to remove couples sitting alone at the city’s beaches.

Following protests against this move, however, Mumbai Police Commissioner Dr Satyapal Singh changed the plan from summarily ejecting, to merely increasing vigilance on couples spending time alone on seashores or isolated inlets.

However, they still insist that this is not moral policing but a move to ensure safety for couples. Dr Singh has still not elaborated on what the police will do in case they see people sitting far away into the sea – if the couples are not asked to leave, will the patrolling cops wait and keep vigil till the couples leave?

“The seashores of Girgaon, Worli, Marine Drive, Bandra Bandstand and Juhu attract a lot of people. Couples generally visit these places and sit on the rocks when the sea is at low tide, for privacy,” a press release from the police says. “Such couples sitting in isolation may encourage criminals to target them and assault them for money or valuables. There is also the fear that girls may be sexually assaulted in such cases.”

However, it seems that though the recent Delhi gang rape case may have spurred the Mumbai Police into providing security to the citizenry, the cops seem more worried about the after-effects of such an incident occurring in Mumbai and causing law and order issues. “In view of the Delhi gang rape case, if such an incident were to happen in Mumbai, the citizens of Mumbai would feel insecure and the resulting protest demonstrations would cause a law and order situation in the city. To prevent this, the numbers of policemen keeping vigil along the seashores of Girgaon, Worli, Marine Drive, Bandra Bandstand and Juhu are being increased,” the cops say.

Like we said, don’t move away from the crowds unless you want some quiet time with the cops.

Is this move aimed at policing criminals or is it designed to keep a watch over couples? Tell us what you think.

(Picture courtesy tasveerz.wordpress.com)

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Big story

Cops will watch the skies on R-Day

No paragliders or other micro-aircraft can fly near or above Shivaji Park till noon on Saturday, Republic Day, this year. Anyone breaking this rule will be arrested.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

If all of us watch the skies, who will watch the land and the seas? Never mind that, the Mumbai Police seem to be saying. As per a directive issued from the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) KG Patil, a “breach of peace” is expected by terrorist or antisocial elements from the skies above the Shivaji Park (Dadar) area on Saturday, January 26, 2013.

Accordingly, no paragliders or remote controlled microlight aircraft will be allowed to fly in the jurisdiction of Mahim, Shivaji Park, Dadar and Worli police stations on that day.

An order issued today from Patil’s office reads, “On Republic Day 26/01/2013 at Shivaji Park, Dadar areas (sic) VIP, Army, Navy and Air Force officers, Consuls and citizens in large numbers come together for celebrating Republic Day, it is necessary that some checks should be put on activities around Shivaji Park area in Dadar, Mumbai, so that terrorist/anti-social elements may not attack through paragliders , remote controlled microlight aircraft (and) that immediate action is necessary for prevention of the same.”

This order is to remain in force from 6 am to noon of January 26, 2013.

(Picture courtesy thehindu.com)

 

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Big story

Theatre owners will not be charged more entertainment duty

State rolls back decision to charge theatres more duty if they priced tickets higher during weekends and for blockbuster releases.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Last week, the State Government of Maharashtra had proposed a policy wherein it would charge theatres more entertainment duty for film tickets that were priced higher during weekends and holidays. It meant that the higher the ticket price, the higher the duty paid to the Government.

In a cabinet meeting today, this decision was rolled back.

It was widely discussed earlier that the proposal would help the Government earn substantial sums to encash on the ‘100-crore club’ that most major releases of such stars as the Khans, for example, normally come under. However, the increased duty would be charged only on tickets charged over Rs 250 per ticket.

The proposal had originally come from the Revenue Department, which had prepared a note that mentioned that reports of brisk business of new films, to the tune of Rs 30 crore on a single day (for a film such as Ek Tha Tiger, for example) could not be possible without tickets being priced higher than their normal rates. If the new policy had been implemented, theatre owners would have to work out a system wherein booking of tickets would be fully computerised so that the ticket sales could be recorded.

Some newspaper reports mentioned that the State earned upwards of Rs 87 crore from multiplexes and Rs 108.16 crore from single screen theatres in the last financial year.

100 per cent hike in service tax for single screens

In the cabinet meeting today, the State decided that single screen theatres’ development in the rural areas be given a boost by not imposing any entertainment tax on them for a period of seven years. Also, the State will now allow service tax per ticket to be increased from Rs 6.50 per ticket to Rs 14 for single screen theatres, provided they computerise their booking system and provide central air-conditioning for the patrons. This decision applies to all single screen theatres across the State; it simply means that tickets will now cost higher in single screen theatres.

(Picture courtesy ibnlive.com)

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Big story

Women traffic personnel taking self-defence classes

Rising incidents of men passing lewd comments and even assaulting female traffic personnel prompt Traffic Police to conduct self-defence classes.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The next time you get into an altercation with a woman traffic cop, you might have to face more than just a fine. Don’t entertain any bright ideas of assaulting her just because she’s a woman, or molesting her, or slanging her out and driving away, unless you want a karate chop. What’s more, you can get pulled up by said cop if you harass another woman on the street and a traffic cop’s on duty.

Taking cognizance of recent incidents where a woman traffic constable was physically assaulted by a man she had caught for speeding, and the rising tendency of the city’s men to eve tease these women posted on duty, Mumbai’s traffic cops are arming their women constables with self defence knowledge.

Under the stewardship of Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Vivek Phansalkar and Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Brijesh Singh, classes imparting training in physical and mental fitness through self defence have been started two days ago for women personnel. The training is imparted by experienced commandos and physical education instructors, and is a five-day module that will include the 315 women currently employed on the Force.

As per a press release from the Commissioner of Police’s office yesterday, “It has been seen that women traffic personnel are sometimes obstructed from performing their duties and laying down the law by indisciplined male drivers of vehicles. Some men have been found to indulge in indecent behaviour and speech with the women traffic personnel, with a recent incident of a women constable being physically attacked on the street. Such incidents affect the morale of the women personnel.”

In view of this, the women traffic personnel at the Naigaon police HQ were selected for training in increasing physical fitness, and learning such martial arts as judo and karate.

Interestingly, the purview of traffic cops’ on-field duties has now been widened to include stepping in to nab persons molesting or harassing young girls and women on the roads, in which case the presence of trained women personnel will be an added bonus. “Several crimes these days – ranging from chain snatching to eve teasing to even thefts of vehicles – happen on the roads and hence, traffic police must be alert at all times to prevent such crimes. By increasing the physical and mental strength of the women traffic personnel, it is hoped that they will be able to perform their duties more fearlessly and help bring crime on the streets under control,” a traffic police official says.

(Picture courtesy mid-day.com) 

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Big story

Serial hoax caller arrested from Gujarat

Youth had earlier threatened to blow up trains and hijack planes if Kasab was not released; picked up from Vapi.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

There sure are some strange 19-year-olds in the country. Vikas Yadav, a resident of Vapi in Gujarat, was arrested by the Mumbai Police three days ago for making three hoax calls since 2011, threatening to blow up trains such as the Rajdhani Express or hijack airplanes. His reason? He was a fan of Ajmal Kasab, the captured 26/11 terrorist who was executed by the Maharashtra Government last year.

The youth’s first such call came in January 2011, when he threatened to blow up the Rajdhani and Garib Rath Express. At the time, he had assumed the identity of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. Then, in the period between June and December 2012, he made other calls threatening to hijack an Indigo Airways’ plane from Bangalore airport, and later that he had planted an explosive at Delhi’s International Airport. Both these times, his demand was that 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab be released.

His most recent call came to Jet Airways in October 2012, when he identified himself as Vikas Yadav, and threatened to hijack the Mumbai-Bangalore flight, again with the order that Kasab be released.

Various police stations all over the country were on the lookout for Vikas, but he managed to evade arrest for two years. However, owing to the severity of the threat calls (especially since Kasab’s name was used), the probe into the matter was taken up by the Mumbai Crime Branch under Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy. Some of the calls were found to originate from Bihar, and a team was dispatched there. However, that team found that Vikas lived in Vapi with his family.

Vikas was picked up from his Vapi residence on January 18, 2013. He has been charged under various sections of the IT Act and the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Civil Aviation Act. Five mobile phones and SIM cards were seized from him. “During investigation, he said that he is fan of Qasab because he had dared to kill hundreds of people during 26/11,” a police official said.

(Picture courtesy sofiaglobe.com)

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