Two persons were arrested in the attempt to murder former mayor Milind Vaidya recently. The police have also recovered the AK-56 assault rifle and a nine-mm pistol used in the attack.

The arrested have been identified as Azizuddin Shaikh and Zuber Kasam Sheikh taking the total number of accused arrested in the Vaidya case to eight. Vaidya survived two attempts on his life on December 17 last year and March four this year. In both the cases of assualt Vaidya escaped narrowly. A car used in the incident was earlier recovered. The accused have been remanded to police custody.

No toll for tankers at Bhayander

Tankers carrying drinking water to Mira-Bhayander township need not pay the toll as the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Council has agreed to give lumpsum payment in lieu of the toll. According to a council official the decision was taken after the tanker owners urged the municipality not to charge toll on the water carriers. Similarly toll collecting agents asa gesture of goodwill decided not to charge any toll on the buses carrying students going to school to and fro from Mumbai, the statement added.

Compensation for assaulted photographers

The two press photographers Prashant Nakwe and Deepak Joshi who were assaulted by three constables of the Government Railway Police (GRP) at Kalyan last month were awarded compensation for their damaged equipments today. While Nakwe who works with the Midday, was awarded Rs 33,950, Joshi, an Express photographer was given a cheque of Rs 42,500 by the Central Railway.

Nakwe and Joshi were taking pictures of a few constables taking bribes at Kalyan railway station on the night of June 30. They were attacked by three GRP constables S N Kamble, R E Kamble and S D Deshmukh, taken to the police station and beaten up till early morning after which they were thrown out.Minister of State for Railways Ram Naik has ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident. The three constables have also been suspended and transferredfrom Kalyan to Pandharpur. A case regarding the incident is being investigated by the Kalyan police.

The Bombay Newsphotographers' Association chairman P M Shirodkar has expressed appreciation for the efforts of Naik, Bombay Union of Journalists, Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh and city reporters and photographers in helping the two photographers get the compensation.