FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. XLI No. 96 | INDORE | FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 13, 2024 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 FREE www.freepressjournal.in Sports Ponting lauds Virat’s transformational leadership ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE UJJAIN WORLD PRESS PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit Kamala trumps Trump P.10 67.1 mn people watched Harris, Trump debate Cinema Emmy night with Vir Das P.16 HORROR AT JAM GATE Three held for assault on army officers, ‘gang-rape’ Court remands two accused to five-day police custody Our Staff Reporter MHOW/INDORE Free Press felicitates teachers Felicitated teachers pose for a group photograph with chief guest Indore MP Shankar Lalwani, DCBM principal Dr Sonal Sisodia, Omaxe Ltd (MP) president Vineet Sharma and Moira Group director Sandeep Jain at Free Press House on Thursday MONSOON FURY| Rain wreaks havoc. Army, NDRF pressed into service 7 dead in Datia fort wall collapse 500 rescued in Gwalior Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Seven people died after a wall of a fort collapsed following heavy rains in Khalkapura, Datia district at around 4 am on Thursday. According to locals, wall of Rajgarh Fort in Datia collapsed and fell on a house adjacent to it, trapping nine members of a family under the debris of the wall. The locals rescued two persons while seven remained trapped and died. Collector Sandeep Kumar Mawkin said, “At around 4 am, a wall of a fort called Rar collapsed due to continuous rainfall for around 36 hours in the district and nine members of a family got buried inside it. The locals immediately swung into action and rescued two members of the family. Later Guna, Shivpuri, Rajgarh, Tikamgarh worst affected Seven died after a wall of a fort collapsed following heavy rain in Datia district early Thursday morning we admitted them to hospital and they are safe." He said the way to the spot was very narrow due to which JCB and poclain machine could not reach there. We called the SDERF team and the superintendent of police, sub-divisional magistrate and other officials also reached the spot. With the help of the SDRF team, three bodies were recovered. Later, a portion of the fort wall was demolished to make way for the poclain machine, and all seven bodies were recovered from the spot. Those who died were identified as Shivam Vansakar (22), Suraj Vansakar (18), Kishan Vansakar (60), Prabha Vansakar (56), Niranjan Vansakar (60), Mamta Vansakar (55) and Radha Vansakar (25), The injured have been identified as Munna Vansakar (59) and Akash Vansakar (25). School building collapses in Bhind Due to heavy rainfall, government middle school building in Ranipura, Bhind, collapsed on Thursday. No casualties were reported as the administration had de- CM YADAV ANNOUNCES ` 4L EX-GRATIA Lifetime high for Sensex Indian shares hit record highs on Thursday as commodity stocks jumped on expectations that China is likely to cut interest rates on mortgages to boost consumption. The Nifty ended 1.89% higher at 25,388.9, while the Sensex rose 1.77% to 82,962.71. Both the benchmarks also hit closing high levels during the session, which was their best since early June. clared a holiday on Thursday for students due to the ongoing heavy rains. hief Minister Mohan Yadav posted on X, "The news of the death of people due to the collapse of the old wall of Raj- C Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Around 500 people have been rescued in Senkara and Dabra in Gwalior district while two were rescued in Tikamgarh on Thursday. They were stranded after heavy rainfall and increase in water level in Sindh River tributary. While in Tikamgarh, people were stranded due to water level increase in Dhasan River. In Chhatarpur district 160 people were rescued in last 24 hours. Pohar SDM Motilal Airwar said a husband and wife were swept away while crossing a culvert on a bike, and while the husband managed to garh Fort in Datia is extremely painful. We all are with the bereaved families in this hour of grief." “Instructions have been Opposition says it compromises judicial integrity, sends out uncomfortable message Modi at CJI’s home NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the residence of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Wednesday to offer prayers during the Ganpati Puja has kicked up a political storm with several opposition leaders criticising the move saying it creates an “uncomfortable situation” and may impact judicial transparency. The ruling BJP hit back saying PM’s attending Ganesh puja was not a crime and politicians and judges often share the dais. Modi had gone to Chandrachud’s residence donning a traditional Maharashtrian cap and had later shared his picture performing the aarti and offering prayers before the Ganpati idol along with the CJI and his wife Kalpana Das. The PM also wrote, “Joined Ganesh Puja at the residence of CJI, Justice DY Chandrachud Ji. May Bhagwan Shri Ganesh bless us all with hap- Boundary wall of Dumna Airport, Jabalpur collapsed after heavy rain on Thursday. This is the second damage to the airport building after renovation worth Rs 450 crore. Previously canopy at the airport had fallen two and half months ago. escape, the wife died. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav reviewed flood situation on Thursday and instructed that helicopters be pressed into service to rescue stranded families. Meanwhile, a 60-member NDRF team left for Gwalior in a special Air Force aircraft from Hyderabad. This team was divided into two teams from Gwalior airport and was to airlift people to a safer place by helicopter. 4Continued on | P8 given to provide financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased," he wrote. PM attends Ganpati puja at CJI’s home, kicks up political storm Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar Jabalpur airport’s wall collapses BJP hits back Why was this not said when Manmohan Singh hosted iftar in 2009 which was attended by then CJI piness, prosperity and wonderful health.” 4Continued on | P8 Yechury: The amiable face of the Left P olyglot, amiable and an eclectic conversationalist who could hold forth on film songs as much as politics, CPIM's fifth general secretary Sitaram Yechury was the pragmatic leader with friends across the political spectrum. The three-time party chief, who passed away on Thursday after prolonged illness at Delhi's AIIMS, took over the reins of the party when Left fortunes were on the decline. He was 72. Quite unlike his predecessor Prakash Karat, from whom he took over in April 2015 and who was known for hardline positions, Yechury thrived on the challenges of coalition politics. 4Continued on | P8 J&K witnessing a realignment of political forces By invitation Rashme Sehgal T he run up to the J&K assembly election has triggered a re-alignment of political forces. The mainstream parties comprising PDP, National Conference and the Congress are perceived as being at one end of the spectrum, while parties which have been dubbed as BJP proxies -- namely, Sajjad Lone’s People’s Conference, Altaf Bukhari’s Apni Party, Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party and Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party -- are seen as representing the other end of the spectrum. The over 100 candidates contesting as independents are again perceived by the general public as `BJP stooges’. The Jamaat-e-Islami (J&K) has emerged as the dark horse in this election. They are running a quiet door-todoor campaign and though their candidates publicly claim they are willing to adhere to democratic practices, political observers in the valley are taking their statements with a pinch of salt. The BJP remains isolated in the valley having decided to put up only 19 candidates. If they emerge as the single largest party, they will play the role of kingmaker. As a teacher of political science in the Kashmir University pointed out, ‘‘they have the money and through their proxies, they hope to acquire the muscle.’< 4Continued on | P8 Three persons arrested for allegedly gang-raping a girl and assaulting and looting young army officers near Jam Gate late on Tuesday night have allegedly confessed to the crime, said the police on Thursday. The trio has also spilled the beans about their three associates. The police have launched a manhunt to nab the remaining accused. Additional SP (Rural) Rupesh Dwivedi informed Free Press that the arrested accused were Pawan Vasunia (23) and Anil Barod (27) of Gondkua village near Wanchu Point. They were arrested a few hours after the incident. Prime accused Ritesh Bhabhar of Bilami village was arrested on Thursday evening. Earlier, Pawan and Anil were produced in court which sent them into five-day police custody for further investigation. Teams from five different police stations have been deployed to nab the remaining accused identified as Rohit Girwal and Sandeep Baria of Nandgaon and Sachin Makwana of Chenpur village. An award of Rs10,000 had been announced on absconding accused. The incident involved two army officers participating in Young Officers (YO) course at Car music gave away officers’ location Sources claimed that the accused were consuming liquor near Jam Gate late on Tuesday night. One of them, identified as Anil, heard sound of music while leaving the spot. He went close to the car in which the army officer and the girl were sitting. Anil later called his aide Ritesh. It is said that Ritesh was carrying a firearm like object. Later, they called other accused and thrashed the army officer. They held an officer and a girl hostage and asked another officer and girl to bring Rs 10 lakh. The officer who went to fetch cash informed the police. Girl’s statement is being recorded to confirm rape, said IG (Rural) Anurag Infantry School. They, along with two female friends from Indore, had set out for a night picnic on Tuesday. The group separated near Ahilya Gate; one officer and a female friend went to a hill, while the other officer and a female stayed in the car. Around 2:30 am, six men approached the car and assaulted the officer. They also robbed him. The police registered a case of Didi offers to quit as docs refuse meet sans live streaming PTI LADY MACBETH KOLKATA West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she was "ready to resign" for the "sake of people" and expressed regret over the junior doctors' refusal to come for talks to resolve the impasse over the R G Kar rape-murder case. Banerjee, who waited for nearly two hours for the agitating doctors to come for the meeting, said she also wanted the victim to get justice and apologised to the people of West Bengal for the continued deadlock. "We have tolerated a lot of canards and insults for the last 33 days," she said at a press conference but assured the protesters that despite violating the Supreme Court directive by not resuming duties, she would not take action against them. 4Continued on | P8 PUTIN WANTS ONE-TO-ONE WITH MODI R ussian President Vladmir Putin on Thursday proposed a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan next month when National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval called on him in St Petersburg. The Putin-Doval meeting came nearly three weeks after Modi travelled to Ukranian capital Kyiv and held talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Doval is in St Petersburg to attend a conclave of national security advisors of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-ChinaSouth Africa) nations. Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has said he would socially boycott Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. In practice, it translates to not sharing any public platform with the Chief Minister, he added. Terming her "Lady Macbeth" he said currently there has been violence everywhere n the state, be it cities, towns, villages or hospitals. ‘Unfit to be docs’ Senior TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee on Thursday criticised the agitating medics of West Bengal calling them "inhumane and unfit to become doctors" and urged the state government to ensure that they are not allowed to appear for their final exams. The medics have been on 'cease work' since August 9. Police announced Rs 10,000 award for information on remaining accused gang-rape against the accused on the complaint of a victim officer. However, the victim girl is yet to record her statement. IG (Rural) Anurag informed Free Press that so far three accused had been arrested and a team was searching for the remaining accused. The statement of the girl was being recorded to confirm rape incident. ADM caught taking Rs 5K bribe in Rewa, suspended Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Special police establishment (SPE) Lokayukta police Rewa trapped the additional district magistrate posted in Mauganj district for taking bribe of Rs 5000, said the officials on Thursday. The officer was suspended by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. Mauganj district has been newly formed; the 53rd district of the state. SP Gopal Dhakad said that complainant Ramniwas Tiwari resident of village Khooj complained that he had applied for division of their landed property. The ADM Ashok Kumar Ahori was demanding Rs 20,000 to issue the orders. 4Continued on | P8 Walking where there is no air FP News Service WASHINGTON Billionaire Jared Isaacman became the first private person to conduct a spacewalk when he briefly exited the SpaceX Polaris Dawn capsule to have a view of the earth which he described as a “a perfect world.” Sarah Gillis, an engineer, stepped out of the spacecraft around 15 minutes apart, wearing a specially-designed suit. A spacewalk is one of the riskiest manoeuvres in space; earlier, only astronauts with government-funded space agencies had undertaken a spacewalk.  Along with the billionaire CEO Isaacman and engineer Gillis, there are two other SpaceX employees on board. However, crewmates Scott “Kidd” Poteet and Anna Menon stayed inside the capsule. 4Continued on | P8