FREE PRESS The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. XXXX NO. 344 | INDORE | MONDAY | MAY 20, 2024 | PAGES 14 MS KNOWS WHAT HE IS GOING TO DO: SIMONS SPORTS `3 - r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026; EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE EDIT Cops detain AAP workers marching towards BJP HQ TRAVAILS OF AAP: WHEN THIEVES FIGHT WEATHER FP 38.40c. 24.60c Sunrise : 05.46 Sunset : 07.00 SWATI MALIWAL ASSAULT CASE NEWS BRIEF Flash floods kill 84 in Afghanistan ISLAMABAD: More heavy rains in Afghanistan have triggered flash floods, raising the death toll to 84 in the country's north following weeks of devastating torrents that had already left hundreds dead and missing, a Taliban spokesman said Sunday. The new round of heavy rains and floods hit four districts in Faryab province Saturday night, leaving 66 dead, five injured and eight missing. Another people had died in floods on Friday, said Esmatullah Moradi, spokesman for the provincial governor in Faryab. 2 killed as luxury car hits mobike in Pune PUNE: Two persons were killed when a speeding luxury car driven by a juvenile hit their motorcycle in Maharashtra's Pune city on Sunday, police said. The 17-year-old car driver was detained after a case was registered against him under relevant provisions, they said. The police are also in the process of taking legal action against the boy's parents, an official said. CISF jawan dies after gun goes off CHENNAI: A 37-year-old CISF personnel hailing from neighbouring Karnataka died after the firearm he was carrying went off, police said on Sunday. A probe has been initiated to ascertain whether the deceased Ravi Kiran shot himself or if the weapon went off by accident when he was traveling in a bus to Karnataka on Saturday. SC to hear plea on new criminal laws NEW DELHI: The SC is scheduled to hear on Monday a petition challenging the enactment of three new laws that seek to overhaul India's penal codes claiming that they suffer from many "defects and discrepancies". A vacation bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal is likely to hear the matter. The Lok Sabha, on December 21 last year, passed three key legislations -- the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the bills on December 25. Teen loses hearing after teacher’s slap BALLIA (UP): A teacher of a private school here has been booked for allegedly thrashing a Class 10 student, leading to partial loss of hearing, the police said on Sunday. The incident took place on May 13 in the school located in Piprauli Barhagaon under the Ubhaon police station limits here during a mathematics period that the 14-year-old victim, Prateek, was attending, they added. Prateek's father Praveen Kumar Madhukar lodged a complaint alleging that his son was beaten up by his mathematics teacher Raghavendra after he found the boy talking to another student during the class, Vipin Singh, SHO of Ubhaon police station said. Section 144 imposed on DDU Marg 5-day police remand for Bibhav Kumar NEW DELHI Amid the mega political showdown over the arrest of CM Kejriwal's former aide in connection with the alleged assault on AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, Delhi Police on Sunday detained several workers of the ruling party as they marched towards the BJP headquarters in the national capital as part of a planned 'Jail Bharo' protest. Decrying the arrest of his former aide in the assault case, CM Kejriwal, on Saturday, accused the BJP at the Centre of resorting to a 'Jail Ka Khel' (game of putting leaders in jail) against his party, adding that he would lead a 'Jail Bharo' march to the BJP headquarters on Sunday along with his top party leaders as well as workers. Speaking to ANI on Sunday, DCP Delhi Central, Harsha Vardhan Mandava said, "Based on the information we received through social media and other channels, we have Delhi CM and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and party MP Sanjay Singh during a protest march, in New Delhi on Sunday. Cops seize CCTV DVR from Delhi CM's residence NEW DELHI : In a major development in the alleged assault case of AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, the Delhi Police seized the CCTV DVR from the residence of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday. According to Delhi Police sources, police did not receive proper CCTV footage to analyse the sequence of crime, due to which the DVR has been confiscated. After confiscating the DVR, a seizure memo was also handed over to the CM residence. As per the sources, Delhi Police will now retrieve the footage of the DVR with the help of technical experts and then an attempt will be made to analyse the sequence of crime. "Delhi Police also suspects that there may be some tampering with the DVR or its hard disk. However, it will be clear only after the DVR retrieves the data," the sources said. made preventive arrangements on DDU Marg to ensure that the law and order are maintained at all costs. We are focused and committed to making adequate security deployments and have barricades in place to ward off any attempt to disrupt law and order." "Section 144 has been imposed on DDU Marg and NURSING COLLEGE SCAM CBI NABS eight persons including one own official OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in A team of CBI officials carried out a raid in three places in Madhya Pradesh including Bhopal, Indore and Ratlam and have arrested eight accused in a bribery case in connection with the nursing college scam, said officials here on Sunday . According to police, at present, the CBI is investigating the scam that relates to providing accreditation to nursing colleges on the High Court's order. The ADG law and order Bhopal, Avdesh Goswami told Free Press that the CBI officials came from New Delhi and demanded force to arrest the accused. The CBI and local police have arrested eight people in the case including two women and six men on Saturday. They were presented into the CBI court, Bhopal on Sunday . Sources informed that the CBI officials have came to know that some CBI officials involved in enquiry are taking bribes to provide the 'Ok report' of the colleges. It is claimed that one of the CBI officers has taken a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from a director and the principal of a college. Taking action the CBI team came from Delhi arrested the CBI officer and others in the case. Meanwhile, in Indore, the CBI reportedly picked up office-bearers of four nursing colleges of the city . 'As of now, what we know is that CBI has detained some office-bearers of some college. We don't have any further information,' additional commissioner of police (Law & Order) Amit Singh said. In many areas Hindus have become a minority in WB: Modi MEDINIPUR (WB): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the TMC of insulting the faith of Hindus to appease its vote bank and asserted that infiltrators are "perilous" to West Bengal since they are "disturbing" the demography of the state. Addressing his third election rally in West Bengal during the day, the prime minister said, "Infiltrators, who are the vote bank of the TMC", are a threat to the state as in many areas the Hindus have become lesser in number. "In Bengal, TMC is synonymous with terrorism, corruption, appeasement and nepotism. To appease its vote bank, the TMC is insulting the faith Hindus. The New Delhi: A Delhi court allowed five-day custodial interrogation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar in the Swati Maliwal assault case, sing the police remand was a "necessity" in the matter. Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal was hearing the application of Delhi Police which was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava. there is no permission for any kind of protest here," he informed. Earlier in the day, elaborate security arrangements were made outside the BJP headquarters ahead of the AAP's 'Jail Bharo' march. Delhi Traffic Police issued an advisory ahead of the AAP protest, warning of possible snarls at DDU Marg, IP Marg, Minto Road and Vikas Marg. It added that DDU Marg may remain closed to traffic between 11 am to 2 pm, urging commuters to avoid stretches that are likely to experience logjams. CONTD. ON P9 Monsoon hits Nicobar Islands NEW DELHI: Southwest monsoon, the lifeline of India's farm-based economy on , Sunday made its onset over the Nicobar Islands, the southernmost region of the country , the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said here. "Southwest monsoon has advanced into some parts of the Maldives, and the Comorin area and some parts of the South Bay of Bengal, Nicobar Islands and South Andaman Sea on Sunday," the weather office said. The annual rainfall phenomenon is expected to reach Kerala by May 31. The date of monsoon onset over Kerala has varied widely over the last 150 years, the earliest being May 11 in 1918, and the most delayed being June 18 in 1972, according to IMD data. r RNI No. 38281/83 IMRAN FACES FRESH GRAFT ALLEGATIONS WORLD 5th phase polling on 49 seats today AGENCIES Mumbai/Lucknow Polling will be held on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two UTs in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections that will decide the electoral fate of several prominent leaders like former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani and former J-K chief minister Omar Abdullah. Over 8.95 crore people, including 4.26 crore females and 5,409 third-gender electors, are eligible to vote in this round and 9.47 lakh polling officials have been deployed across 94,732 polling stations. Among the seats going to polls, 13 are in Maharashtra, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, seven in West Bengal, five in Bihar, three in Jharkhand, five in Odisha, one in J-K and the lone seat in Ladakh. This round covers the least number of seats (49) in the seven-phase elections. It is another important phase for the BJP as over 40 of these seats were with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). On the eve of poling, the Election Commission on Sunday pointed out that Mumbai, Thane and Lucknow have shown apathy towards voting in the past and asked city dwellers there to turn out in higher numbers. The poll authority noted that in the past these cities have "suffered" from urban apathy in voting. CONTD. ON P9 ONLINE REPORT / TEHRAN A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed on Sunday in Iran’s east Azerbaijan province, but is yet to be located by search-and-rescue workers because of heavy fog. The helicopter was also carrying Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iran s foreign minister. The state news agency IRNA reported that an enormous search operation involving 16 teams was underway to locate the helicopter. Inclement weather was however hampering the effort. Videos aired on Iranian state television showed rescue teams driving along mountain roads in thick fog and teams walking on green hills wearing redand-white vests. DATIA THIRD HOTTEST IN COUNTRY AT 47.5 OUR STAFF REPORTER Indore Bhopal, the state capital, and Indore, the commercial capital, recorded their highest temperatures of the season on Sunday, with Bhopal reaching 43.0 degrees Celsius and Indore hitting 43.1 degrees Celsius. Bhopal's extreme heat resulted in deserted streets during the noon and afternoon hours, as residents stayed indoors to avoid the sweltering conditions. The fact that it was a Sunday provided some relief, as many people could remain at home. Indore's temperature spike broke the records of the past two years, surpassing the previous high of 43.4 degrees Celsius recorded in May 2022. The city is enduring an excruciating summer with consecutive days of recordbreaking heat this month. The persistent high temperatures in both cities high- leaders, after a brief interaction with others on the stage, departed without addressing the crowd. Next followed India Bloc s joint rally in Prayagraj. Rahul was already on stage and Akhilesh joined him shortly afterwards. However, the impatient and over-enthusiastic crowd continued to surge ahead, breaking through the barricades, despite calls from the stage to maintain order. Addressing the crowd from the stage, Akhilesh acknowledged their excitement and urged them to conserve their energy for the voting day. Later, both the leaders left the venue. Of strawberry shakes, drives & 4 newspapers a day: Ruskin Bond turns 90 "THEY SAY 'old soldiers never die, they simply fade away'. Even old writers never die, they simply go out of print." LANDOUR (UTTARAKHAND) Old writers never die, they simply go out of print, says India's storyteller through the decades Ruskin Bond as he turned 90 on Sunday, adding with his famed selfdeprecating wit that 99 per cent of his tribe are forgot- ten in the long run. The companionship of his adopted family, drives on the serpentine Landour-Mussoorie route, frothy strawberry milk shakes, shelves filled with books to read and a handy notepad to write down his daily musings. they were and are just a few of his favourite things. Spending most of his days at his picturesque home Ivy Cottage in the quiet canton- ment town of Landour, a short drive from the noisier Mussoorie, the twin towns' most famous resident shows little signs of ageing. High blood pressure and dwindling eyesight aside, his childlike enthusiasm is intact as he discusses life, old age, writing, food and everything in between. "Ninety-nine per cent of writers are forgotten in the long run. We are writing for posterity but nobody State media is yet to report on casualties or confirm the whereabouts or condition of the president. The cause of the crash is also unknown. Hard-liners urged the public on national media to pray for him. Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary. He is viewed as a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation. CONTD. ON P9 Hottest day in Indore & Bhopal BISWAJEET BANERJEE Prayagraj entire country is angry due to the recent derogatory statement made by the CM of West Bengal," he said at the Medinipur rally . Modi was referring to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's recent remarks against Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Sevaashram Sangha. CONTD. ON P9 Chopper with Iran’s prez on board crashes Stampede fear: Akhilesh, Rahul leave without addressing rally The joint rallies by Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi in Phulpur and Prayagraj were marred by disruptions on Sunday which constrained both leaders to leave the rally in Phulpur. Reports indicate that at Phulpur the attendees broke through barricades and surged towards the stage leading to an almost-stampede like situation. Both QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in remembers us afterwards... I am happy if my family remembers me and a few readers get some pleasure out of my writing but it is very easy for a writer to disappear, to go out of print," Bond told J'khand: 60-yr-old man stripped, dragged tied to motorbike for "cow smuggling" Garhwa, May 19 (PTI) A 60-year-old man was allegedly stripped and dragged after being tied to a motorcycle by three persons on suspicion of cow smuggling in Jharkhand's Garhwa district, police said on Sunday . The incident occurred near Amrora village, around 275 km from Jharkhand's capital Ranchi, when the man, identified as Surswati Ram was on his way to Banshidhar Nagar Untari with his cattle on Friday afternoon. CONTD. ON P9 lighted the severity of this summer. Health authorities are urging residents to take precautions against heat-related illnesses by staying hydrated, avoiding outdoor activities during peak heat hours, and seeking shelter in cool places. Local authorities and health officials in both Bhopal and Indore are implementing heat action plans and public advisories to protect residents from the heat wave like SEE PAGE 3 conditions. 60-yr-old man dragged tied to motorcycle GARHWA A 60-year-old man was allegedly stripped and dragged after being tied to a motorcycle by three persons on suspicion of cow smuggling in Jharkhand's Garhwa district, police said on Sunday . ACCUSED OF COW SMUGGLING The incident occurred near Amrora village, around 275 km from Jharkhand's capital Ranchi, when the man, identified as Surswati Ram was on his way to Banshidhar Nagar Untari with his cattle on Friday afternoon. Banshidhar Nagar Untari sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Satyendra Narayan Singh said that an FIR has been lodged in this regard. "According to the FIR, three persons, identified as Rahul Dubey, Rajesh Dubey and Kashinath Bhuiyan, were on a motorcycle. They intercepted the old man and accused him of being involved in cow smuggling," Singh said. CONTD. ON P9