FREE PRESS The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. 13 NO. 228 | BHOPAL | WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 31, 2024 | PAGES 16 DEEPTI SHARMA RISES TO JOIN SECOND SPORTS AMONG BOWLERS `3 - r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE NATION ‘WE DON’T NEED HIM’ WEATHER FP 29.40c. 12.80c Sunrise : 07.07 Sunset : 06.13 LOVE BLOSSOMS CINEMA 15 PFI MEN GET NOOSE FOR KILLING BJP LEADER ALAPPUZHA (KER) NEWS BRIEF IMRAN GETS 10 YRS JAIL ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi have been sentenced to 10 years in jail in the cipher case, local media reported. The order was announced by special court Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain during the hearing held at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, Geo News reported. A Kerala court on Tuesday sentenced to death 15 people associated with the now-banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) in connection with the murder of BJP OBC wing leader Ranjith Sreenivasan in this district in 2021, the special prosecutor of the case said here. The sentence was pronounced by Mavelikkara Additional Sessions Judge -I V G Sreedevi. There was "absolute justification" in giving capital punishment to all the accused persons in this case, the court vict, who is currently said. hospitalised due to "It is true that there an illness, is proare no records to duced in court, the show that the acsentence against him cused persons were will be pronounced, convicted earlier. he said. The most important The convict in the aspect is that the case are Naisam, Ajheinous crime was mal, Anoop, Police escort 15 members of the Popular Front of India committed in the Muhammed Aslam, comfort zone ie., in the of the total of 15 persons Abdul Kalam, Abdul house of the victim, in the convicted in the case were Kalam, Sarafudheen, Manpresence of his mother, produced before the court shad, Jaseeb Raja, Navas, wife and minor child .... all on Tuesday, the judge oralSameer, Naseer, Sakeer showing the brutality of ly stated that the sentence Hussain, Shaji and Sherthe crime," it said. would also apply to the nas Asharaf. According to special convict who was not proSreenivasan, a lawyer prosecutor Prathap G duced today . and the BJP OBC Morcha Padickal, although 14 out When the remaining constate secretary, was brutal- Gadkari suggests ropeway, sky buses over Upper Lake 15 NH PROJECTS RAMDEV’S WAX FIGURE UNVEILED CM PRAISES GADKARI'S IDEAS Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said it's a great achievement for the state to have road construction works of Rs 10,000 crores. Talking about the national level performance of NHAI, he said in 70 years, 5000 km of roads were constructed and in the last 10 years roads of equivalent length have been built. The NHAI projects are going to benefit 17 districts of state. OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in NEW DELHI: A life-size wax figure of yoga guru Ramdev was unveiled in Delhi on Tuesday by Madame Tussauds New York. The event took place in the presence of Ramdev, who also performed some 'asanas' on the occasion. SUSPENSION OF 14 MPS REVOKED NEW DELHI: A day before the start of the Budget session, the chairs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Monday revoked the suspension of 14 opposition MPs, allowing them to attend House proceedings, sources said. State brings online gaming under GST OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in The state has brought online gaming under the ambit of GST through an ordinance, officials said here on Tuesday . Tax would have to be paid by both the person providing the online gaming platform, whether living in India or outside, and also those who are purchasing digital assets to play the game. All online games based on skill or chance are covered under the Act – be it betting, casinos, gambling, horse racing, lottery or online money gaming. Union minister for transport and highways Nitin Gadkari has suggested to the Mohan Yadav government that they should give a proposal for starting a ropeway, cable car and sky buses over Upper Lake (Bhopal) and his ministry will help the state government in this regard. He was speaking while laying the foundation stone of 15 national highway road projects of 498 km in length at Lal Parade ground here on Tuesday A . sum of over Rs 8,000 crores will be spent on these projects. Talking about various road projects, Gadkari said that soon the road network of Madhya Pradesh will become equivalent to that in America. CONTD. ON P8 Step-father slits minor girl’s throat OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in ‘Jako Rakhe Saiya, Maar Sake Na Koy’, (no one can harm you if god is your protector). This proverb came true in Bhopal, where a stepfather tried to kill his eight-year-old stepdaughter by slitting her throat, Kohefiza police said here on Tuesday . Police said that he wanted to kill his stepdaughter as his new family had a specially–abled son, and he had to spend a lot of money on his treatment and could not fulfil the needs of his family . Deputy commissioner of police, Riyaz Iqbal, told Free Press that on Monday evening at around 9 pm, the minor girl, all drenched in blood came out on the road near Sofia College, asking people for help. The passersby informed Kohefiza police and she was taken to Hamidia hospital. When she came in sense, she told police that her father had tried to slit her throat and then he had thrown her into the bushes and escaped. She told police that her father had taken her with him saying that they were going to meet their relatives. The police launched a manhunt and arrested the accused father Tej Singh Lodhi. The accused is a resident of Sagar district and he works for the tent house as a labourer here in Bhopal. During investigations, the accused told police that he had got married to a woman and she already had a girl child. However, his wife died of Covid. The accused again got married and the couple had a boy child, but he was specially-abled, and his treatment was costing a lot of money . CONTD. ON P8 n Six-lane road of 40 km between Shahganj bypass of Raisen district and Badi. n Four-lane road widening between BudhniShahganj. n Two-lane with paved shoulder widening from Multai state border segment Madhya Pradesh/Maharashtra. n 2 lane road (along with paved shoulder) Dinara of Pichore. n idening of Sheopur Goras route n Construction of twolane of Shujalpur bypass n Construction of twolane road Kasrawad, Sailani, Khargone and Bistan by-pass. n Two-lane of Ater and Bhind bypass n Two-lane from Sarwardevla till Paal (length 55.8 km) n Two-lane between Goras Shyampura n Widening work between Shyampur Sabalgarh route. n Two-lane between Gujarat border (Dahod) till Ambua. Navy rescues hijacked vessel, saves 19 Pak crew NEW DELHI : The Indian Navy officials on Tuesday said that they have rescued a hijacked fishing vessel 'Al Naemi' with 11 Somali armed pirates. The officials said that the Navy's Marine Commandos carried out the operation and rescued the crew including 19 Pakistani nationals. The official said that the navy rescued the vessels through swift, persistent and relentless efforts by the Mission Deployed Indian Navy warship in the Southern Arabian Sea approx 850 nm West of Kochi. “It also prevented misuse of fishing vessels as Mother Ships for further acts of Piracy on Merchant Vessels,” the officials said. The officials said that the warship los has carried out another successful antipiracy ops off the East Coast of Somalia, rescuing Fishing Vessel Al Naeemi and her Crew (19 Pakistani Nationals) from 11 Somali Pirates. CONTD. ON P8 Neighbours need each other: EAM MUMBAI: Amid the recent tension with Maldives after three ministers in that country’s government posted derogatory comments on social media against Prime Minister Narendra Modi even as an ‘India Out’ campaign has been unfolding in the island nation, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said, “At the end of the day neighbours need , each other.” He was speaking to stu- dents at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Mumbai on Tuesday on ‘India’s role in the global stage’ and on his recently published book ‘Why Bharat Matters’. “Every country has problems in the neighbourhood,” said Jaishankar, adding that eventually they reach an understanding. “It is in the nature of politics that we take strong stands, but diplomacy works differently,” he said. Addressing a question on the crisis in the Red Sea, Jaishankar said that the Indian Navy has deployed ten ships in that region. Sharing how INS Visakhapatnam extinguished a fire onboard a commercial oil tanker, the Union minister added that the Indian navy rescued Pakistani and Iranian fishermen. “We will not be considered a responsible country when bad things are happening in the surrounding country and we say I have got nothing to do with this,” he said. Jaishankar spoke about how his new book connects various diplomacy lessons with the Ramayana and urged the youth to take an interest in foreign policy. “In today’s globalised world, foreign policy matters to all of you,” he said. CONTD. ON P8 Indore police comm Deoskar appointed BSF IG OUR STAFF REPORTER / Bhopal Indore police commissioner Markand Deoskar will go to the Centre on deputation. A 1997-batch IPS officer Deoskar has been appointed inspector general of the Border Security Force (BSF). The Union home ministry issued Deoskar’s appointment order on Tuesday He will work for the . BSF for five years. Deoskar considered one of the hone officers was the police commissioner of Bhopal besides Indore. Now, the state government has to appoint a new police commissioner for Indore. Many officers are trying to go to Indore as police commissioner. ly attacked and killed in his home on December 19, 2021, in front of his family, by activists affiliated with PFI and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). In the 22-page verdict, the court said, "an overall evaluation of the facts and circumstances of this case, which is a case with direct evidence with three occurrence witnesses and the recoveries effected proved that the weapons as well as vehicles use contain blood, and DNA profiling proved that those blood stains are of the victim advocate." CONTD. ON P8 BJP WINS Chandigarh mayoral polls, INDIA alliance cries foul Alliance accuses presiding officer of irregularities RAJESH MOUDGIL / Chandigarh In what came as a rude jolt to the INDIA bloc constituents - Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) the BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar won the post of the mayor defeating AAP’s Kuldeep Dhalor Tita, also supported by Congress, here on Tuesday . The AAP has moved Punjab and Haryana High Court against the results, hearing in the case has been fixed for Wednesday . AAPs Chandigarh mayor candidate Kuldeep Kumar breaks down after results of mayoral polls were announced The high-adrenaline elections in which the alliance seemed to have a clear majority with 20 councillors – AAP – 13 and Congress – 7in the 35-member Municipal Corporation House, was keenly watched by the top leaders of the trio majors, for being first such ‘test’ for the INDIA bloc against BJP. CONTD. ON P8 BLACK DAY FOR DEMOCRACY: KEJRIWAL NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) indulged in "hooliganism" during the Chandigarh mayoral elections and called the polls a "black day for democracy." Addressing a press conference, Delhi CM voiced concerns about the integrity of the democratic process and said the entire country saw what happened in the Chandigarh mayoral polls.