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Six arrested for destroying mangroves in Vashigaon

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As many as six suspects have been detained in a joint operation by the Vashi Police and the Mangrove Protection Cell of the forest department in Navi Mumbai on Monday for allegedly destroying mangroves on a large area of about three hectares near the Vashi Creek and then encroaching on the land where they had built hutments and rented them out to slum dwellers. Senior police inspector for Vashi Ramesh Chavan stated, “The Range forest officer Sudhir Manjare had registered a complaint at Vashi police station on Sunday alerting them that a significant area of mangroves had been damaged in Vashigaon and wanted police protection to conduct a raid.

As a result, we offered police protection on Monday during the operation, during which six suspects were detained. The six accused belong to the Sutar, Bhoir, and Patil families and are local citizens. The NMMC anti-encroachment department would demolish the slum dwellers’ encroachment on the mangrove zone in Vashigaon on Wednesday, according to Inspector Chavan. According to documents obtained by sources, the letter sent to the JMFC court in Belapur on November 8 by the office of the Range Forest Officer, Mumbai Mangroves Conservation Unit, Navi Mumbai, states that up to 10 people have engaged in mangroves destruction and illegal debris dumping at survey numbers 17 and 840 at Turbhe, where 3.88 hectares has been encouraged upon by the accused and they are conducting fishing activity and crab farming in addition to seizing property.

The paper also states that the accused has allegedly damaged 10,888 mangrove plantations on 2.54 hectares of mangrove land. “The Mangrove Cell personnel have showed some spine and moved against this big land grab on mangrove zone,” said BN Kumar, director of NatConnect Foundation. The infringement has been occurring for a while, and we actually reported about it back in June 2020 when the passage of the tide water was being obstructed. Instead of allowing the infraction to spread out across such a vast region of over three hectares, it should have been stopped in its tracks.”

Since these illegal activities occur at night, Kumar said, “It’s about time the mangrove protection cell installed CCTV camera surveillance with night vision. To stop such environmental crimes, a full-fledged control room supported by a fast response team is urgently needed. Only six of the 10 suspects, including two women, were shown before the JMFC court in Belapur on Tuesday, according to Sudhir Manjare, RFO, Navi Mumbai. In accordance with section 64 of the Indian Forest Act, the magistrate granted them personal bond bail.

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Woman Found Murdered at Ulwe Lodge, Boyfriend Dies by Suicide

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23-year-old woman allegedly strangled by her boyfriend at a Sector 9 lodge; police launch investigation into the incident.

The Murder

A shocking incident was reported at Happy Residency Lodge in Sector 9, Ulwe, where a 24-year-old man allegedly murdered his 23-year-old girlfriend before dying by suicide.

According to the police, the incident came to light around midnight on Wednesday. The preliminary investigation suggests that the crime may have been linked to complications in their relationship. However, the exact motive is yet to be established. The woman’s father, Satyaveer Singh Chaudhary, a resident of Sankeshwar Plaza in Ulwe, approached the police after his daughter went missing on Tuesday. The family was scheduled to travel outside the state by flight, but the woman failed to return home.

Following the complaint, Ulwe police began searching for her. A technical investigation helped them trace her location to Happy Residency Lodge in Sector 9. When police reached the lodge at around 1 am on Wednesday, they found the woman’s body inside a room. Her boyfriend, identified as Bharat Pankaj Bhardwaj, alias Gaurav, was also found dead after allegedly hanging himself.

According to the post-mortem findings, the woman was strangled to death before the man died by suicide at around 4.45 am. Police have registered a murder case against the deceased man under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Further investigation is being conducted by the Ulwe police.

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Fake Journalist Arrested for Allegedly Cheating Four People of Rs 19 Lakh in Ulwe Flat Deal

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Navi Mumbai Police arrest accused from a Lonavala hotel, he allegedly promised affordable flats in Ulwe but failed to deliver.

Cheating

Navi Mumbai Police have arrested a man accused of cheating four people of approximately Rs 19 lakh by promising to provide flats at below-market prices in Ulwe. The accused, identified as Shailendra Devprabhakar Dwivedi, was arrested from a hotel in Lonavala.

According to the police, Dwivedi allegedly posed as a journalist and claimed to be associated with a real estate development firm, Shri Guru Builders and Developers. He reportedly promised affordable flats in a building being developed at Plot No. 453 in Sector 24, Ulwe.

Using these assurances, he allegedly collected a total of Rs 19 lakh from four people but failed to provide the promised flats. Vijay Jha (42), an incense-stick businessman, lodged a complaint at the Ulwe police station on October 7. After the complaint was registered, the accused allegedly went into hiding and frequently changed locations to avoid arrest. He also reportedly circulated misleading social media posts about Navi Mumbai police personnel.

Following a technical investigation, the police traced him to a hotel in Lonavala and arrested him around midnight on Thursday. Deputy Commissioner of Police Amit Kale stated that several other serious cases, including extortion, illegal possession of weapons, assault and obstructing government officials, had previously been registered against the accused at various police stations in Navi Mumbai and Thane. Further investigation is underway.

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Cyberattack at SBI’s Navi Mumbai IT Centre, 3.75 Lakh Records Allegedly Stolen

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Hackers reportedly accessed servers at the CBD Belapur facility and stole data linked to YONO 2.0 and RAAS applications; police launch investigation.

The IT Centre

A major cybersecurity breach has been reported at the State Bank of India’s (SBI) Global IT Centre in CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai, where hackers allegedly gained unauthorised access to the bank’s servers and stole around 3.75 lakh records.

According to a police complaint, the incident took place between October 9 and October 15, 2026. The stolen data reportedly included 32 CSV files containing approximately 3.75 lakh records linked to SBI’s YONO 2.0 and RAAS applications. Additionally, two JSON files and 2,721 PDF files were allegedly accessed.

The complaint suspects the involvement of an individual or hacking group operating under the name ‘Siriusim’, along with another unidentified person. It has also been alleged that the stolen information was circulated on the dark web. SBI official Bhavesh Nehru Nikam filed a complaint at the CBD police station. Police have registered a case against unidentified persons under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.

The police are investigating how the hackers accessed the servers, who was responsible for the breach and whether the stolen information was misused. However, the exact nature of the compromised customer data remains unclear. There is no official confirmation yet regarding the theft of bank account numbers, passwords or financial transaction details.

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