Law and order: Oppn raises Munna Yadav, NIT land issues

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today denied Opposition's allegation that the law and order situation in the state is worrisome.
Speaking in the Assembly on the last day of winter session, Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil claimed that local leader Munna Yadav, who has "serious charges against him", is hiding on a farm house "22 km away from Nagpur" but police haven't arrested him yet.
"Despite several serious charges against him, he hasn't been arrested. The situation is all the more serious as the BJP-led government has given him a status of minister of state by appointing him to a state board," Vikhe Patil said.

In another allegation, the Congress leader said that a land belonging to the Nagpur Improvement Trust was illegally handed over to Pune-based Maharashtra Rashtrabhasha Sabha (MRS) which works for the promotion of Hindi language.
The MRs illegally signed a development agreement with a builder who sold the land to SMG Hospital, and the hospital in turn sold a part of it Wockhardt Hospitals, said Vikhe Patil.
"It is a fraud of Rs 155 crore," he said, demanding a reply from the chief minister.

Citing the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau, Vikhe Patil and NCP leader Jayant Patil also alleged the there has been a rise in cases of kidnapping and assault on women as well as cyber crimes in Maharashtra.

In his reply, Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, said the case of Munna Yadav was related to a feud between brothers, and it has been going on for years. Those found guilty in this case would be punished, he said.
Fadnavis highlighted that the state police succeeded in tracing 20,112 missing children during 2015-17 through their 'Operation Muskan'.
The conviction rate has gone up from 8 per cent in 2005 to 34.08 per cent in 2017, the CM pointed out.
He conceded that cyber crime was on rise, but said that Maharashtra has a very high Internet penetration, which leads to increase in the number of cyber crimes (compared to some other states).

The government has appointed some 170 officials to tackle cyber crimes and set up special labs for probe, he said.
The C-60 commando force of the state police which operates in the Naxal-affected areas has helped significantly in curbing the activities of the rebels, which has led to these areas witnessing some industrial development, Fadnavis said.
The number of murders in the state has come down 13.49 per cent against the last year while the number of dacoity cases fell by 2.46 per cent, riot cases by 3.15 per cent and chain-snatching by 8.90 per cent, Fadnavis said.