Mumbai: Over 240 passengers who landed in Mumbai over 10 days ago on an Air India (AI) flight from New York may finally see an end to their long wait for their bags. On March 18, flight AI116 was diverted to Medina, Saudi Arabia, after a suspected fire in the cargo hold. AI said all checked-in baggage was offloaded there in line with global safety protocols. It said it had to rely on a partner carrier to transport the bags to Mumbai as it does not operate scheduled services to Medina. “Regulatory permissions during the Eid holiday combined with the geopolitical situation in West Asia contributed to delays.”It said payload restrictions arising from longer flight routes also constrained efforts to move the bags earlier despite multiple attempts. “All baggage has arrived in Mumbai and is awaiting customs clearance,” it said, adding that teams are working with authorities to ensure delivery to flyers. TNN

Mumbai: Police arrested one person in connection with a fraud where a merchant navy officer was duped while trying to book a resort accommodation online.The incident had occurred on Jan 2. Around 6 am, the complainant was browsing online to book a hotel room at a resort in Karjat. He found a link and clicked on the website which he later found out was bogus. On the website, he found a contact number and dialled it. The person who received the call asked the complainant to connect over WhatsApp. The complainant received photos of hotel rooms from the accused. He was asked to pay Rs 12,000 as advance. A QR code was sent, but the payment went to a confectionary store’s account. On asking the accused, the complainant received evasive responses.

Mumbai: Former members of the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) are alleging political interference in the council’s upcoming April 26 elections, which would be the first to be held in a decade. The dispute has split the Indian Medical Association (IMA) into two rival factions, each claiming to be the organisation’s sole legitimate representative.The rift centres on two competing panels: the ‘Official IMA MMC Panel’ backed by current state president Dr Santosh Kulkarni and allegedly supported by the BJP-affiliated Vaidkiya Aghadi, and the ‘IMA Members MMC Panel’ backed by 14 past presidents and senior members.Dr Suhas Pingle, a former MMC member, said Dr Kulkarni bypassed official protocol by scrapping a panel previously vetted in 2025. Even as there was a majority IMA member consensus to retain that original panel, Dr Pingle added the leadership “arbitrarily” changed eligibility rules and appointed a selection committee of newcomers to hand-pick a new group. The move was so contentious that four senior members reportedly walked out of the process in protest.Past MMC president Dr Shivkumar Utture also alleged that members of the original 2025 panel received threatening phone calls from Vaidkiya Aghadi pressuring them to jump ship to the new panel. “One member even left because of the pressure,” Dr Utture said.These elections are particularly high-stakes as the MMC has functioned under a state-appointed administrator since 2022. The council consists of nine elected members and nine govt appointees; this is intended to balance the interests of the medical fraternity as well as the state.Dr Kulkarni has called all allegations baseless, maintaining that his panel is the only official one. While his panel includes an alliance with the Maharashtra State Medical Teachers Association, he insists all other candidates are IMA members. “Past presidents do not have any authority. I am the Maharashtra state president so the panel I am calling the official panel is indeed an official panel,” he said.

Tollywood was left in shock on Sunday after the sudden death of Rahul Arunoday Banerjee. The 43-year-old actor reportedly drowned at Talsari sea beach near Digha while shooting for his ongoing television serial. As per reports, Rahul had stepped into the water during the shoot when the incident occurred. Unit members and technicians rushed to rescue him after he went under and did not resurface for some time. He was immediately taken to a hospital in Digha, but sources said he was declared dead before reaching the facility. Rahul was reportedly underwater for several minutes before technicians realised he was missing and went looking for him. A post-mortem is expected to be conducted at Digha Hospital.Also See: Rahul Arunoday Banerjee’s last video from Bholebaba Paar Karega set goes viral after drowning tragedy; Mamata Banerjee mourns loss

Nashik/Nagpur: A magistrate court on Sunday extended astrologer Ashok Kharat’s remand in police custody till April 1 in a rape case after the investigating officer cited an ongoing probe and the need for digital experts to analyse a cloned copy of his seized phone in his presence.The special investigation team (SIT) probing the case has obtained the cloned copy from the state forensic sciences laboratory. Ten FIRs have so far been lodged against Kharat, eight of which are related to rape.Assistant public prosecutor Shailendra Bagade told the court that he has so far cooperated very little with respect to details of several key aspects being probed by the SIT. He said there was a possibility that Kharat might have saved the cellphone numbers of his important contacts under aliases and the verification of cellphone data in his presence was necessary. Bagdae said investigators were establishing all movable and immovable properties Kharat was suspected to have acquired, either in his name or in the names of other persons. Bagade said in the case he was arrested for, the astrologer gave the victim some “salty and bitter water” to drink, which left her “light-headed”, before raping her. He said the SIT will investigate the source of this water and what Kharat mixed in it. Meanwhile, senior SIT officials refused to comment on reports that Rupali Chakankar, former chairperson of the state commission for women, had been summoned for questioning over her links to Kharat’s charitable trust. Chakankar was associated with it as a trustee. The day was also marked by a sharp exchange between Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar and revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule over the case. Citing the shooting of the Badlapur rape suspect by police in 2024 and the death of US financier Jeffrey Epstein in jail in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges, Wadettiwar said Kharat could be killed in police custody “to protect those in power”. He also claimed that a pen drive reportedly linked to the case could expose influential individuals. His remarks came after former minister Deepak Kesarkar claimed 39 MLAs had visited Kharat.Bawankule challenged him to submit proof of such claims to police, instead of airing them before media.