NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Mumbai, Apr 30 (PTI) Following are the top stories from the Western Region at 1700 HRS.


BOM13 MH-TERROR-LD PAWAR
* Pahalgam: Pawar backs demand for special Parliament session, says will support govt steps



Thane: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday backed the Congress' demand for a special session of Parliament to discuss the Pahalgam terror attack and said this would send out the message that the country is united. *




BOM19 MH-HC-BADLAPUR ENCOUNTER CASE

* Badlapur 'encounter' case: HC slams SIT for no FIR against 5 cops; 'very sorry state of affairs'



Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday slammed the crime branch's Special Investigation Team for not registering an FIR against five policemen for the alleged encounter killing of Badlapur sexual assault case accused Akshay Shinde, noting it was a "very sorry state of affairs".


BOM6 MH-COURT-CHOKSI

Mumbai court issues non-bailable warrant against Mehul Choksi in loan fraud case



Mumbai: A court here has issued a non-bailable warrant against diamantaire Mehul Choksi in the Canara Bank-led consortium loan fraud case involving about Rs 55 crore.


BOM11 MH-LD POLICE-DEVEN BHARTI

Senior IPS officer Deven Bharti appointed Mumbai police commissioner



Mumbai: Senior IPS officer Deven Bharti has been appointed the new commissioner of Mumbai police, officials said on Wednesday.




BOM3 MH-RAGGING

3 PG students of Pune college suspended, expelled from hostel for ragging junior doctors


Pune: Three postgraduate students of the state-run BJ Medical College in Pune have been suspended and removed from their hostel for allegedly ragging junior doctors, said an official from the institute on Wednesday.




BOM5 MH-TERROR-YOUTH
Maharashtra man claims terror suspect spoke to him day before Pahalgam attack



Jalna: A young man from Jalna city in Maharashtra, who recently returned from Kashmir, has claimed that one of the suspected attackers in the Pahalgam terror case spoke to him a day before the carnage.


BOM15 MH-HINDU SEER-AURANGZEB


Removing tombs of Aurangzeb, other invaders first duty of CM Fadnavis, says Hindu seer



Nagpur: Hindu seer Pragyananand Saraswati Maharaj has said the "first duty" of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was to remove the tombs of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and other invaders from the state.




BOM14 MH-QUOTA-JARANGE
Jarange to launch hunger strike on Aug 29 on Maratha quota; sets June 6 deadline for demands



Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday announced to launch a hunger strike on August 29 to press for his community's demand for draft notification on 'blood relatives' of Kunbi Marathas into a law.


BOM4 MH-SHOWROOM-FIRE
Mumbai fire brigade douses Bandra mall fire after over 22 hours


Mumbai: A major fire that devastated a mall in Mumbai’s upscale Bandra area was controlled after more than 22 hours of firefighting, civic officials said on Wednesday. ***

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)