From Versace couture to Byculla jail, a long and lonely road

A favourite story about Sheetal Mafatlal is how she would hate being called a page-three perennial. “I belong on page-one dahling,” she said at one of her many parties. This was, of course, before news of her husband’s family dispute made national headlines four years ago. And before Monday morning, when Mumbai woke up to front-page reports of her being detained at the airport for alleged duty evasion — she was arrested today for allegedly not declaring jewellery worth over Rs 50 lakh.

Later in the day, a city court remanded her to judicial custody until June 12, a ruling some legal experts felt was harsh — her lawyer Satish Maneshinde said “some disgruntled opponents of the Mafatlal family and industry” had tipped-off police and other authorities. This is not how Sheetal would have liked to make news. But none of her friends, many of Mumbai’s beautiful society ladies, said a word in her defence. Or spared a thought wondering if she was being made a victim as her lawyer alleged.

Not too long ago, these friends had enjoyed the expensive champagne and mutton raan her art-filled home on Altamount Road was known for, and had Sheetal light up their parties, swilling from crystal tulips, dressed in the latest couture, and only couture made from European designers’ ateliers.

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Ashok Chakra for only two from Mumbai Police: Karkare and Omble

The UPA government has decided to restrict the Ashok Chakra for those who died in the Mumbai terror attacks to ATS chief Hemant Karkare and ASI Tukaram Omble.

On the night of November 26, Omble took the bullets but held on to the gun which led to the capture of terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab at Girgaum Chowpatty while Karkare was killed in the line of duty at Cama Hospital.

Though the Maharashtra government had recom mended that all 16 policemen who died in the attacks be awarded the country’s highest peacetime gallantry award, the Centre decided to award it to two with Kirti Chakra for six, including Ashok Kamte, Vijay Salaskar and Shashank Shinde, and police gallantry medals for the rest.

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Mumbai’s night of terror without end

A city in siege and a horrified nation watched perhaps the most audacious attack by terrorists at home as heavily armed men, with automatic weapons, grenades and low-intensity bombs, struck at least nine locations killing over 70 people and wounding some 200.

Landmark symbols of cosmopolitanism and affluence as well as public hubs were targeted. The dead included top police officers such as the chief of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner (East) Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Inspector Vijay Salaskar. All were killed fighting the attackers.

The attacks, sophisticated and co-ordinated on a scale never seen before, continued well into the night as reports trickled in of fresh explosions and continuing gun battles.

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Terror email: To clear his name, Haywood on way back to Mumbai

US National Kenneth Haywood, who left India last month while being investigated in connection with the Ahmedabad bomb Blasts e-mail sent from his account, is set to return to Mumbai tonight in a bid to clear his name.

Source said Haywood, the Navi Mumbai -based employee of business skills coaching firm Campbell White, is flying back to his home in US through London on British Airways flight BA 139 due to land after midnight on Wednesday.

Sources said Haywood sent “feelers” to Mumbai Police that he regretted the way he left India despite a look-out notice. While he is not expected to be arrested since the Maharashtra Anti- Terrorism Squad (ATS) has since given him a clean chit, Haywood is expected to visit ATS on Thursday.

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Latest from Raj: reserve 80% jobs in pvt firms for Maharashtrians

Weeks after targeting North Indian migrants, Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has raked up the son-of-the soil issue, demanding 80 per cent job reservation for Marathi-speaking locals in the private sector and warning "we know how to explain" if this is not done.

Since Sunday, the MNS has been delivering letters by hand to private companies in and around Mumbai. The party said around 100 companies, mostly call centres and security firms, have already been approached in the suburbs of Mumbai (Vile Parle, Malad and Juhu), Pune, Nashik, Igatpuri and Vidarbha. In the coming days, the MNS plans to approach 44,000 companies.

Manoj Chavan, chief of the Maharashtra Navnirman Kaamgar Sena, said members are personally "hand-delivering the letters" and meeting company officials. "It is just a cordial reminder to the industries and the trade sector. If they don't respond, we know how to explain to them in our own way," he said.

In the letter, the MNS says a job candidate must have a 15-year Maharashtra domicile certificate which it claims is also the policy of the state government. "This rule is being violated openly and the MNS has complaints regarding the matter".

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Readers helping hand reaches Mumbai 7/11 terror victims

Their loss can never be compensated, or even entirely comprehended, but readers of The Indian Express can lend a helping hand.

With funds raised from reader contributions, The Indian Express My Mumbai Trust today disbursed cheques for Rs 2.2 lakh each to 12 of the most dispossessed families left behind by the serial bomb blasts aboard Mumbai's suburban trains on July 11, 2006.

A K Jhingron, General Manager of Western Railway who handed out the cheques at Express Towers, said: "With the limitations that the Railways have, there is just this much that the Railways could do. It is in the light of this that work by organisations like The Indian Express has helped the victims. We truly appreciate your efforts".

Soon after the blasts, The Indian Express kicked off 187 Life Stories, a series recounting for readers how these unfortunate Mumbaites had lived.

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