Accused in ₹8,100-crore Sterling Biotech fraud arrested in Albania

Is Brother-In-Law Of Main Accused Chetan Sandesara


New Delhi:

Hitesh Patel, brotherin-law of Chetan Sandesara who is the main accused in the Rs 8,100-crore Sterling Biotech fraud, has been arrested in Albania on the basis of an Interpol red corner notice issued on March 11 at the request of the ED.


The agency, which is probing the money laundering case against the Sandesaras and others, said it would soon approach the local court to seek his extradition.

Patel was arrested in Tirana on March 20. He is wanted for his involvement with dozens of shell companies used by the Sandesaras to launder bank loans. The ED had on March 19 issued an extradition request to Albania against Chetan Sandesara and his brother Nitin Sandesara, the two Sterling Biotech directors.

The Sandesara brothers, who fled the country soon after cases were registered against them by the CBI and the ED in 2017, are wanted for bank loan frauds of more than Rs 8,100 crore. A case has been filed against them under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act to confiscate their properties. The ED has attached Rs 4,700 crore of their personal assets and those of associated group companies.

The Sandesara brothers too are believed to have taken citizenship of Albania to evade arrest by Indian agencies. Earlier, the ED had arrested four persons for money laundering, including Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan, known to be close to a senior Congress leader. His dealings in purchase of properties were under the agency’s scanner.

The ED has also arrested Anup Garg, former director of Andhra Bank; R B Dixit, director of Sterling Biotech Ltd; and Ranjeet Malik, an associate of Gagan Dhawan. It has filed five chargesheets in the case so far.

Investigation showed that the Sterling promoters had allegedly incorporated more than 250 shell companies and laundered money through them to foreign entities. More than 100 shell companies were created in various countries, including the UAE, the US, the UK, British Vigin Islands, Mauritius, Barbados and Nigeria to launder money borrowed from banks.

“The Sandesaras are engaged in the oil business and have numerous assets in Nigeria, including oil blocks (Durga 1-4), barges and ships. Some of their vessels are also registered in Panama,” the ED had earlier claimed in its chargesheet. Besides, they have immovable property in British Virgin Islands, which the agency has sought to confiscate while investigation is on to identify more foreign assets.

Trio nabbed for break-ins after search of 9 Goregaon buildings

Mumbai:

Goregaon police arrested three members of an inter-state house breakin gang from Delhi who were here to execute offences. They were caught after they broke into a locked flat in one of nine buildings at Gajanan Colony on Road 8, Goregaon (W), early on Friday.


Akash Mathur, Anil Chavan and Pravin Sundarsingh were caught after police searched for them in all buildings and finally found them in a cavity below a water tank on a terrace. Police recovered stolen gold ornaments worth Rs 4.5 lakh from them and are searching for two more members who escaped.

The trio was caught after police searched at least nine four- and six-storeyed buildings. They were produced in court on Friday and remanded to police custody.

The drama lasted for almost an hour when a resident told police about five strangers loitering about suspiciously at 1am. DCP (zone XI) Sangramsinh Nishandar supervised a team of ACP Rajaram Mandge, Goregaon senior inspector Sanjeev Bhole, inspector Arvind Pawar, sub-inspectors Pachgane and Gachhe and detection staff, who cordoned off the area after parking five patrol vehicles at five exit points. “This forced three members to run upstairs and hide in a cavity below the water tank,” said a police officer.

The gang struck at a flat on the third floor of a building after its owner, along with his family, had left for the airport past midnight to take a flight to Bengaluru. The witness was in his flat when he noticed them and called Goregaon police’s emergency number. “The valuables were recovered from the trio, who took the team to the flat where they struck. Relatives reached the spot after neighbours telephoned the flat-owner about the break-in,” a resident of Gajanan Colony told TOI.

Police are verifying details of the gang and have got information that they are wanted in several break-ins in Delhi and Mumbai in the last few years. “We are collecting information on how frequently and how they used to travel to Mumbai to commit the crimes. After reaching Mumbai, they used to stay in a lodge in Dongri,” police said.

4 convicted of ₹35L share theft & transfer

Four accused have been convicted in a 20-year-old scam in which a postman, in collusion with a businessman and others, stole shares worth Rs 35 lakh in 1999. The 4,500 shares of Global TeleSystems Ltd were to be delivered by the post office to the company’s Navi Mumbai office. However, the postman facilitated their theft and handover to a businessman who, using forged deeds, transferred it on his name and later sold them.


Three persons, Santosh Jain, Jitendra Doshi and Sushil Vettath were sentenced to five years. A woman accused, Sheela Suryavanshi (59) who helped open a bogus demataccount and prepare bogus share transfer deeds was sentenced to two years. She was granted bail. The postman, DR Kamble, and another accused, Kundan Dandvate, died during pendency of the case. TNN

Kahaani ghar ghar ki

Kahaani ghar ghar ki     Gone are the days when a refrigerator used to be an electronic gadget that was used only as a cooling device and to preserve food. Today it's also considered a style statement and adds to the value of the house.      Homemaker Sarita Batra, who tends to use the ref the  most, feels that for her an ideal refrigerator would be the one which has a host of new features and an altogether new design.      For her, the perfect refrigerator should be a prefect amalgamation of both quality and design. In other words, it should be stylish, yet useful and functional. For her a refrigerator or ref as it is called these days, should be effective one that suites their needs.      Summer is the time when they feel that any refrigerator has to surpass the test of being effective, be it on the account of holding on even in the face of long power cuts or making ice fast.      Keeping things cool even if the fridge is opened and closed frequently is yet another concern for her. For      here, the biggest problem is that the storage capacity is in the lower half of the fridge. So, if I have to take out anything, I have to bend myself. I would like to have a refrigerator which has the freezer at the bottom. We had seen some of the refrigerators of this kind sometime back, but we also found that they were not very effective. A new effective design has to be in place soon.      For the other members of her family the refrigerators should be able to cool the water and other beverages very fast. Sarita Batra

Festival in Worli

Festival in Worli

    On the occasion of Republic Day, Bombay Realty presents 'Worli Festival' organised by Shree Sankalp Pratishthan, in association with The Times of India from January 25-27, 2013
    Today, all roads will lead to Worli to witness the spectacular three-day extravaganza to celebrate the spirit of Worli, and its wonderful residents. 'Worli Festival 2013' is on from January 25th to 27th, 2013 at iconic Worli sea face and RWITC (Turf Club), where audience will get an opportunity to see their favourite artists perform live in an openair setting.
    The festival offers Mumbaikars an opportunity to see artists from diverse genres, and to have a fun-filled weekend. The festival will witness host of musical performances —Rahul Sharma will enthrall the crowd with his soulful santoor, Milind Date will on flute, and singing veteran Suzanne D'mello, Shibani Kashyap and Vaishali Samant will appease the audience with their voice.
    Chintu Bhosle, Shadow Dance Act by Firoze Shaikh and Dance Academy, Satyajit Padhye accompanied by Chotu Singh, and stand-up comedians will all be part of the festival, and Meena Naik will be conducting a special puppet making workshop. The star attraction will be Sukhvinder Singh, who will perform on the closing night with a laser show that Mumbaikars will get to witness all this in the three days.

Generation connect-disconnect

Generation connect-disconnect

Read through to know how much Indian citizens are connected to its constitution?

    Even though, Indians follow various religious scriptures in accordance with their caste, creed, faith and religion, it can't be ruled out that we have a common scripture in existence, in the form of Indian Constitution for the last 64 years. However, the followers of this 'holy scripture' are seen very few, since many adhere to their religious scriptures over the former.
    "I feel that we are still connected to this historic day, when our Constitution came into being. I strongly believe that every Indian has to study the Indian Constitution, and abide by the well thought words for a disciplined and responsible citizen. I take my children to the R-Day functions to imbibe the value of this day among them," says 59-year-old Braj Sanke.
    However, for many, Republic Day is just another holiday, but for those, who have seen or heard of the hardship taken by our freedom fighters always respect this special day, and those, who don't respect suffer from being disconnected. Unfortunately, the younger generation consider this day a break from school or college curriculum.
    And the caretakers of the nation, who are many, do not seem to bother to learn and embrace the Constitution, and have a little knowledge even to preach about it to the citizens. Our young readers have expressed similar feelings about the great Constitution, which is confined in pages and hardly being practiced in day to day life.
    When the elders are more concerned of the fading connection with the Republic Day by the youngsters, the generations next are having gala time on R-Day with parties and fun games -- a virtual detachment from this unique day.
    For 12-year-old Rajan Kore, Republic Day means having a parade march and eating delicious snacks in school. When asked he said, "In school, teachers never explained to us about this day, but only tells us to come in a spotless attire to be part of the flag hoisting and parade. My parents explained me about this day on a few occasions, but I can't recall them now," says Rajan.
    To this, Sunil and Vidhya Poojari, teachers by profession said, "Every year, we participate in the flag hoisting ceremony in school as well as in our society to pay respect to our nation. Our kids also enjoy the day with different activities that are organised in the society. But unfortunately, today, the trend has changed. People prefer to go out in malls for shopping and dinners on 26th January, and don't come forward to ask about its significance. For them, it is a day less of patriotism and more of relaxation."
    "We were very excited to take part in R-Day programme, but unfortunately this is not the case with our children. We used to get-up early to decorate the whole school, participate in parade, and salute the tri-colour and freedom fighters. It was an emotional moment for us. We never missed to watch the national parade from Vijay Chowk to Red Fort on television. But today, for children, it's a holiday," says Ajit Gaikwad
    In contrast, today's children have a different feel towards this day. "Due to lack of awareness and proper education about the importance of our constitution, we play and pastime with friends and go out for shopping. Except for flag hoisting ceremony we have nothing relevant to learn about the day," said 14-year-old Sarah Poojari.

YOUNG BLOOD FOR SENIOR INDIA THE COUNTRY DESPERATELY NEEDS NEW LEADERS IF WE WANT TO SEE THE DYNAMIC CHANGES SOON

YOUNG BLOOD FOR SENIOR INDIA

THE COUNTRY DESPERATELY NEEDS NEW LEADERS IF WE WANT TO SEE THE DYNAMIC CHANGES SOON

    With India entering its 64th Republic Day, the age of the country seems coincidental with the age of its leaders. Our nation today is governed by senior citizens and the youth seems to feel far away from having a voice.
    "We are not belittling the experience of seniors but if India is our future, we too would like to have a say in the manner in which the country is governed," says 28 year-old Ajay Mehta. Though one does see a few young faces in the form of Aditya Thackeray, Rahul Gandhi, Milind Deora, Akhilesh Yadav and Sachin Pilot, India needs many more agile hands to give it a new lease of dynamism.
    Our politicos may be pledging growth, but the need of the hour is the greater youth participation. "The country desperately needs young leaders who personify energy, enthusiasm, morality and diligence," says a 32 year-old Vikas Motvani. He further adds, "We have indubitably progressed a lot in the last so many years but, the pace of development would have been completely different had some young torchbearers led the progress march."
    What is it that prevents the youth from taking an active initiative? Why has the college politics of the 60s and 70s died down? "The youth today are not interested in actively participating in the political arena. We are content with what we are doing and the commercial avenues open to us," says 25 year-old Kavita Raje.
    But, that does not hold true for the majority of the country's youth, considering the voices of discontent that are shouting out loud on online social networks. Youngsters are making their discontent towards corruption cases, or the crime cases against women. "The youth of modern India are aware of the problems facing the country and the world at large. Given a
    chance
they would be ready to change the political condition of the country for the better," says social activist Anand Mody.
    What is it that stops them? Is it the fact that there are not enough opportunities for the young leaders to enter and create their own name? That the legacy of the old political dynasty has hardly given way? "We need
people who think differently and can bring about dynamic changes in the system by breaking the set norms. And this can only be done by a fresh bunch of youngsters with no legacy behind them," states Gaurang Damani, who contested the elections independently but unfortunately couldn't make it.
    Give the youth a chance and watch out for a new India.
THE YOUNG SOLUTIONS Approximately 65 as the set retirement age for politicians. A basic educational qualification. No ticket to people with serious criminal backgrounds. Encourage youth to contribute to society in other ways outside the political arena. For example, educate people about their rights and duties or simply raise awareness about various social evils.