New Delhi [India], February 28 (ANI): Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Sunday intercepted and seized 21,60,000 cigarette sticks of foreign origin worth over Rs 4.75 crores at a Container Freight Station (CFS) near Nhava Sheva Port in Mumbai.
“Specific intelligence was received by officers of the DRI, Mumbai, that a large number of cigarettes of foreign origin was being attempted to be smuggled into India in an import consignment arriving from Dubai. Hence, the DRI officers identified the suspected consignment and intercepted it at a CFS near Nhava Sheva Port,” read the official statement by the DRI.
“The examination of the said Import consignment was done under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 which resulted in the recovery of cigarettes of foreign origin. A total of 21,60,000 cigarette sticks of smuggled cigarettes, valued at Rs 4,75,20,000, were seized,” the statement added.
An investigation by the DRI had revealed that the consignment was imported using the Importer Exporter Code (IEC), which had been obtained by misusing Know Your Customer (KYC) documents.
No arrest has been made so far but the DRI has some leads about the persons involved in this smuggling racket. (ANI)

North 24 Paraganas (West Bengal) [India], February 28 (ANI): A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker in Nimta has accused Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers of breaking into his house and brutally attacking him and his octogenarian mother on Saturday morning.
BJP worker Gopal Majumdar from Nimta area in North 24 Paraganas district has alleged that three TMC workers attacked his house and attacked his mother in the early morning of Saturday.
“They hit me on my head and neck. They punched on my face too. I am scared. They asked me not to tell anyone about it. My whole body is in pain,” Shova Majumdar, the mother of BJP worker Gopal Majumdar told ANI.
The Nimta area falls in the North Dumdum Assembly constituency.
An FIR has been registered in the local police station. Investigation in the matter is currently underway.
Political violence has been regularly making headlines in poll-bound West Bengal. The elections for the 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal will begin on March 27. The state is going to witness eight-phase Assembly polls this year. (ANI)

Kochi (Kerala) [India], February 28 (ANI): Suspended member of National Committee of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Jayan Puthenpurackal on Sunday said that the leadership of NCP must be changed.
Kerala state president TP Peethambaran’s action is dictatorial and should step down from his post, he said.
“There must be a change in leadership. The state president’s action is dictatorial. TP Peethambaran should step down as President. The Chief Minister informed Praful Patel that NCP will not get an assembly seat of Pala and a Rajya Sabha seat. But still, the President is not telling the total seats for the NCP in the assembly election. He continues to deceive party workers and the people,” said Puthenpurackal.
Puthenpurackal claimed that the state president has no authority to suspends him and he has sent his complaint to the in-charge Praful Patel along with NCP president Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule.
“The state president has no authority to suspend me. I sent complaints on this to Praful Patel, who is in charge of Kerala, and also sent them to Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule. I got a reply from them. Praful Patel has already told the state president that my suspension should be withdrawn immediately,” he added.
The election for 140-member Kerala Assembly in 14 districts will be held in a single phase on April 6. The counting of votes will be held on May 2. (ANI)

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 28 (ANI): The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested three drug peddlers during raids in Dongri, Wadi Bunder and Nagpada areas on Saturday night.
According to NCB officials, one of the three drug peddlers arrested yesterday was identified as Ejaz Psycho, who is an associate of Chinku Pathan and Arif Bhujwal.
Ejaz was arrested from Dongri area and MDMA drugs worth Rs 15 lakh and 25 mobile phones were recovered from him.
Chinku Pathan was arrested by the NCB on January 20 with a huge quantity of drugs from the Dongri area of the city. Pathan is currently under the custody of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad as NCB found a Dawood connection while investigating the drugs case.
Pathan is the grandson of gangster Karim Lala and is a close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. (ANI)

Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], February 28 (ANI): Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who hails from a village in Jammu and Kashmir and served three years as Chief Minister, drew parallels between himself and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that he has not forgotten his roots and proudly calls himself a “chaiwala” as well as he does not hide his true self.
Speaking at a public event in Jammu, Ghulam Nabi said, “I like a lot of things about many leaders. I am from the village and feel proud… Even our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) hails from the village and used to sell tea. We are political rivals but I appreciate that he does not hide his true self.”
“I have travelled the whole world. I have stayed in 5-star and 7-star hotels. But the scent of the people who belong to my village is unmatched,” the Congress leader said after he was felicitated with the ‘Sher-e-Gurjar award’ by Gurjar Desh Charitable Trust.
Earlier this month, Azad, who served as Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha, retired from the House. An emotional Prime Minister Modi bid adieu to him by recalling his long association with the senior leader.
“The person who will replace Ghulam Nabi ji (as Leader of Opposition) will have difficulty matching his work because he was not only concerned about his party but also about the country and the House,” PM Modi had said.
On Saturday, the groups of 23 dissenting leaders of Congress, including Azad, who has been calling for leadership and organisational change in the Congress, had said the party “getting weaker” and are raising their voice for the betterment of the party.
Senior Congress leaders Kapil Sibal and Anand Sharma were also present. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], February 28 (ANI): Delhi reported 197 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative count of cases in Delhi to 6,39,289.
According to the Delhi government, the total number of recoveries in the national capital rose to 6,27,044 with 168 new recoveries in the last 24 hours.
Witnessing one new fatality in the last 24 hours, Delhi’s COVID-19 death toll reached 10,910.
At present, Delhi has a total of 1,335 active cases.
The national capital currently has a cumulative positivity rate of 5.16 per cent.
As many as 16,752 new COVID-19 cases and 113 deaths were reported in India during the last 24 hours, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Sunday.
With this, the total coronavirus caseload in the country has gone up to 1,10,96,731, including 1,64,511 active cases, 1,07,75,169 discharges, along with 1,57,051 deaths. (ANI)