Murders of Shraddha Walkar and Amravati pharmacist, death of Cyrus Mistry in car crash leave Maharashtra scarred in 2022

PTI, Dec 28, 2022, 10:18 AM IST

The bone-chilling murder of Shraddha Walkar in Delhi allegedly by her live-in partner, both hailing from Maharashtra, and the gruesome killing of pharmacist Umesh Kolhe in Amravati in June are two of the incidents that left not only the state but the entire country shaken in 2022.

The death of industrialist Cyrus Mistry in a road accident in Palghar district in September this year brought the issue of road safety to the fore once again, making the Union government announce some decisions related to the usage of seat belts.

During the year, the state also saw registration of multiple FIRs in parts of the state against suspended Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad, developments related to the case of ‘Bulli Bai’ app in which Muslim women were listed for online “auction”, Bollywood actor Salman Khan and his father Salim Khan getting death threat and the arrest of independent MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana over the Hanuman Chalisa row.

The state also witnessed a massive crackdown on Islamic outfit the Popular Front of India (PFI) and FIR against senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla for alleged phone-tapping of politicians.

In May and June, multiple FIRs were registered against Nupur Sharma, including in Thane and Mumbai cities, for her alleged objectionable remark against the Prophet.

Sharma’s remark during a TV debate had triggered protests across the country and drew sharp reactions from many Gulf countries.

A social media post in Sharma’s support cost Amravati pharmacist Umesh Kolhe his life as he was murdered allegedly by a group of Muslim men on June 21.

The National Investigation Agency, which took over the probe later, arrested 11 persons.

On September 4, former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and his friend Jehangir Pandole were killed in a car accident in Palghar district when they were returning to Mumbai from Gujarat.

Gynaecologist Anahita Pandole, who was driving the Mercedes-Benz car in which they were travelling, suffered serious injuries in the accident along with her husband Darius Pandole.

Dr Anahita, who was admitted to a Mumbai hospital, was recently discharged after a 108-day treatment. Her husband had been discharged from the hospital in October.

Mistry, who was in the backseat, was not wearing a seat belt when the accident occurred. From November, the Mumbai Police made it mandatory for car drivers as well as passengers to wear seat belts.

The Palghar Police registered a case against Dr Anahita for rash and negligent driving.

In November, the sensational murder of Shraddha Walkar came to light. Her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala had allegedly strangled Shraddha and cut her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a fridge for almost three weeks before dumping them across the city over several days. Both of them hailed from Vasai in Palghar.

The incident sparked a debate on ‘love jihad’.

Earlier this month, Shraddha’s father Vikas Walkar demanded that Poonawala be hanged for killing his daughter. He said Shraddha had come in contact with Poonawala through a dating app.

He also blamed the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar police, saying his daughter would have been alive had they acted on her written complaint against Poonawala in 2020.

In January, Mumbai’s Cyber Police began probing the case of Bulli Bai app, which listed Muslim women for “auction”.

During the investigation, the cyber cell of Mumbai Police arrested an MBA graduate from Odisha along with his three aides and the role of accused persons also came to light in Sulli Deals case.

Sulli Deals had taken publicly available pictures and created profiles for Muslim women, describing them as “deals of the day”.

Thane city police arrested Hindu religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj in Chhattisgarh in January for his alleged derogatory remarks against Mahatma Gandhi. He was sent to judicial custody and later granted bail.

In the same month, the Mumbai Police also registered an FIR against Google CEO Sundar Pichai and five other employees of the company in an alleged Copyright Act violation case on the orders of court following a complaint by a film director.

In February, a case was filed against the then DCP Saurabh Tripathi and three personnel of the Lokmanya Tilak Marg police station in Mumbai for alleged extortion from angadias (traditional couriers who collect and deliver cash).

Tripathi was suspended from the Mumbai Police force.

During the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, an FIR was registered against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in connection with alleged phone tapping. The case was filed at the Colaba police station in south Mumbai in March.

The alleged illegal phone tapping took place when Shukla was the chief of the State Intelligence Department (SID) during the BJP-Shiv Sena government led by Devendra Fadnavis (2014-19).

Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her husband were arrested in Mumbai in April for allegedly “creating enmity between different groups”. The couple had planned to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside the then CM Uddhav Thackeray’s private residence ‘Matoshree’, but later dropped the plan.

Actor Salman Khan and his father received a threat from Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldie Brar gang in June, following which the Mumbai crime branch started probing the case.

The crime branch team had questioned Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in the custody of Delhi Police in the Arms Act case.

In July, the cyber police of Mumbai crime branch busted an international gang by arresting 14 persons, which was involved in harassing people through online instant loan apps.

The Cyber Police had frozen at least 350 bank accounts and the amount in those accounts was around Rs 14 crore.

In August, the Mumbai Police received a threat message on the traffic wing’s helpline that warned of a “26/11-type” terror attack. The police said the number from which the threat was received was from Pakistan.

In September, a multi-agency operation led by the state ATS raided the PFI offices and more than 50 activists were arrested. The outfit was accused of indulging in terror activities and the action in the state was part of a nationwide crackdown. The Centre later banned it.