Sata

Khairlanji (Maharashtra), Sept 15 : A fasttrack sessions court in Bhandara on Monday held eight of the accused in the Khairlanji massacre in which eleven men were charged with the crime of brutally murdering four members of a Dalit family in 2006.

However, the court acquitted three others and deferred the pronouncement of the quantum of the sentence. Hearing in the case will be resumed from September 20.

The Maharashtra government under Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil had issued a suspension order to the former Byculla jail superintendent Ramesh Kamble on Friday.

Kamble has been found guilty for dereliction during his tenure at Byculla jail.

Earlier, in July, the crime branch police seized mobile phones, chargers, SIM cards, knives and drugs from the Byculla jail. As a result Kamble was shifted to Thane prison. After these raids the government suspended senior jail official Sudhakar Dehnkar, jailor Sunil Salve, women officers Salima Tadvi and Shaileja Wagh, and constables B V Manchare, A S Patil, K M Dorkar and D N Gage. Usage of cellphones is prohibited in jails.

Thane (Maharashtra), Sept 11 : Devotion has many forms. A unique method has been adopted by Pravin Joshi, a devotee who tied 1111 lamps to his body and offered prayers to Lord Ganesha on the occasion of "Ganesh Utsav" at Thane in Maharashtra.

The 1111 lamps tied to his body presented a glorious sight as Pravin Joshi, danced in front of the idol of Lord Ganesha.

The annual ten-day Ganesha festival is celebrated with great ardour across the country. This year the festival began on September 3.

Pravin, who has been performing the act of tying lamps to his body to offer prayers to the god for the past eight years, has performed this act across many states in the country.

Pune, Sept. 9 : In a sharp reaction to Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan''s controversial remarks on Marathi, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today asked her not to provoke Maharashtrians.

Thackeray in an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamna said, "Jaya Bachchan has been making controversial statements that have vitiated the atmosphere leading to discord. I am once again appealing to these people that do not provoke us unnecessarily."

"If you rub us the wrong way and try to test our response, you will be on the run," he added.

Nagpur, Sept 6 : President Pratibha Patil will arrive here this morning on a two-day visit to Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

After reaching Nagpur by a special flight, the President will fly to Achalpur in Amravati District for laying the foundation stone of Finlay Mills.

After an overnight stay at Amravati, the president will flag off a twice-a-week Amravati-Mumbai train on Sunday afternoon and lay the foundation stone for modernization of Amravati Railway Station.