FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. 15 No. 194 | BHOPAL | FRIDAY | DECEMBER 26, 2025 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 www.freepressjournal.in Sports It was Sachin then… is it Vaibhav now? P.12 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL WORLD UJJAIN PUNE INDORE NASHIK Cinema Kartik, Ananya starrer seems... P.14 A little amount of investment in MP can generate crores: Shah Yadav working with more energy than Chouhan, says Union home min Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL/GWALIOR fp Briefs NEW DELHI New rly fare from today The Railway Ministry on Thursday officially notified a hike in train ticket prices by 1 paise per km for ordinary class beyond a journey of 215 km, and 2 paise per km for non-AC classes of mail/express trains and AC classes of all trains. On December 21, the ministry announced its decision to increase the passenger fares from December 26. BENGALURU 6 burnt alive in bus fire In a major tragedy on Christmas Day, at least six persons were burnt alive and 21 others injured after a sleeper coach bus caught fire following a collision with a container truck in Chitradurga district of Karnataka in the early hours of Thursday. Union home minister Amit Shah at Abhiyodya MP Growth Submit in Gwalior on Thursday. Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav were also present Shah says he does organic farming MP is centre of possibilities: CM nion Home Minister Amit Shah has said people are forgetting the traditional organic farming. He made the statement at a farmers’ meeting in Rewa. Twenty-one acres can be fertilised with the help of a local cow without inorganic manure, he said. The farmers can make money through cow dung and urine, Shah said, adding that four million farmers are doing organic farming. Shah said he did inorganic farming on his land, which did not reduce the production but increased it. Cow dung is used to make fertiliser through the Basaman Mama project, which helps to generate Rs 1.25 lakh in one acre, he said, adding that farmers can double their income. C U Mohan Yadav is taking the state on the path of development with more energy than Chouhan, he said. Shah also inaugurated industrial development pro- hief Minister Mohan Yadav, who was also present at the summit, said MP had become a pioneer in terms of possibilities. Investments in MP are beneficial in all respects, and there are endless possibilities in the state, he said. The state, being in the heart of the country, has become a centre for setting up businesses and industrial units, Yadav said. He appealed to the industrial houses to come to MP and make investments. jects worth Rs 5,810 crore and road development work. He gave financial assis- STF’s 14-hr chase nets 600 kg ganja Top Maoist leader Ganesh Uike killed Our Staff Reporter BHUBANESWAR PTI BHOPAL The State Special Task Force chased a truck carrying 600 kilogramme ganja for 14 hours and caught it in jungles of Anuppur on Thursday, police said. SP Rajesh Singh Bhadoria told media that they received a tip-off about a truck coming from Sambal, Odisha, bringing cannabis to Madhya Pradesh. Acting on the information, SDG Pankaj Shrivastava formed two teams. Tracking the consignment and identifying its route into the state proved challenging. Later, the two teams were divided into five groups. One team got a lead, and as the truck entered the state border at around 4 am, the team began tracking it. After a long chase of 14 hours, the truck was caught in jungles of Anuppur. Initially, police did not find any objectionable material when the truck was searched. Using cutters and other equip- Youth on target Authorities said that the consignment was meant to supply nearby districts of Uttar Pradesh and other parts of Madhya Pradesh. Police said the youth were targeted because they pay high amounts for addiction and do not bargain. The delivery was timed for upcoming New Year parties. ment, they managed to open a hidden chest where the ganja was stored. Police said the consignment was hidden in “Pushpa style.” Authorities seized ganja worth Rs 1.80 crore and the truck worth Rs 30 lakh. Two accused, Ankit Vishwakarma of Sidhi and Dhananjay Patel of Satna, were arrested. SP Bhadoriasaid that more arrests are expected in coming days, targeting suppliers, sellers and transporters, with at least a dozen suspects on police radar. 4Continued on | P8 Top Maoist leader Ganesh Uike was among six red rebels killed in gun battles with security forces in Odisha's Kandhamal district, police said on Thursday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah called it a "major breakthrough", while Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi described it as a "remarkable success" to build a Naxal-free India. CPI(Maoist) central committee member Uike, who carried a bounty of Rs 1.1 crore on his head, was the chief of the banned outfit in Odisha, Sanjeeb Panda, an ADG rank officer heading anti-Naxal operations in the state, said. Two Maoists from Chhattisgarh were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in Gumma forest in Belghar police station area on Wednesday night. Fresh gun battles took place in a forest in Chakapad police station area on Thursday morning, in which four other Maoists, including Uike, were killed, he said. (See Nation) NEW DELHI Anti-Terror Conference Union Home Minister Amit Shah will lead experts from operational forces and technical, legal and forensic agencies in chalking out strategies to counter terrorism at a two-day ‘Anti-Terror Conference’ starting here on Friday, an official said. The experts will also discuss issues impacting national security and threats emerging out of terrorism at the conference. Indore’s AB Road is now Atal Bihari Marg Proposal to rename entire Agra–Mumbai Road to be sent to Centre Our Staff Reporter INDORE On the occasion of the 101st birth anniversary of former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indore Municipal Corporation on Wednesday took a historic decision to rename AB Road as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Marg. The decision was taken unanimously during a special meeting of the Mayor-in-Council (MIC) held on a Christmas holiday. Addressing the members, Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav said that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was not only a former Prime Minister who gave India a distinct identity on the global stage, but also a statesman who defined a new paradigm of good governance and played the role of a strong opposition leader with dignity. He recalled Vajpayee’s unmatched con- E-paper Edit Cousins unite to survive P.6 Key B’desh official quits INDUSTRY BOOST | Bhoomipujan of Rs 2L crore industrial projects performed Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi began the system of organising industrial summits, which brought investments to states. Similarly, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has worked for balanced growth by holding regional conclaves, and such efforts will be made in other states, too, he said. Shah made the statement at the Abhyuday Madhya Pradesh Growth Summit in Gwalior on Thursday, when he also attended a farmers’ conference in Rewa. Shah performed the Bhoomipujan of 1,655 industrial units worth Rs 2,00, 000 crore in different parts of the state. Madhya Pradesh is a fertile land where a little amount of investment may yield crores of rupees, Shah said. He said during the Congress rule the state had been sick, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan removed the tag of sickness. Now, Chief Minister MUMBAI tribution in strengthening the country’s road infrastructure by connecting major routes during his tenure. “In view of his invaluable contribution to national development, IMC has decided to honour him by renaming the Agra–Bombay Road, popularly known as AB Road, within the municipal limits as ‘Atal Bihari Vajpayee Marg’,” the Mayor said. The proposal received unanimous approval in the MiC meeting. The meeting also deliberated on renaming the entire Agra–Mumbai Road as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Marg. 4Continued on | P8 tance of Rs 725 crore to 860 industrial units and allotted land to four. Another Hindu lynched amid B’desh unrest FP Online DHAKA Days after Dipu Chandra Das, another Hindu man was lynched in Bangladesh. The victim has been identified as 29-year-old Amrit Mandal, also known as Samrat, who was beaten to death by a mob in Pangsha, Rajbari. The incident reportedly took place on Wednesday night. Mandal was assaulted around 11 pm at Hosaindanga Old Market in Pangsha Upazila and was declared dead shortly after the attack. According to police, Mandal was allegedly accused of extortion by local residents before the situation escalated into mob violence. Police said Amrit Mandal was listed in their records as a local group leader, referred to as “Samrat Bahini.” He was a resident of Hosaindanga village. 4Continued on | P8 BANK LOAN FRAUD CASE ED searches Ruchi Group premises in Indore, Mumbai Our Staff Reporter INDORE One of the city’s prominent industrial group Ruchi Group, with its empire spread across various business sectors, came under the lens of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday. ED’s Indore Sub Zonal Office conducted search operations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 at multiple locations at Indore and Mumbai on Wednesday, in connection with bank fraud cases. ED initiated investigation on the basis ofmultiple FIRs registered by CBI, Bhopal, against Ruchi Group companies including M/S Ruchi Global Ltd. (Now, M/S Agro- trade Enterprises Ltd.), M/s RuchiAcroni Industries Ltd. (Now M/S Steeltech Resources Ltd.) and M/S RSAL Steel Pvt. Ltd. (Now M/S LGB Steel Pvt. Ltd.). The companies, promoted by late Kailash Chandra Shahra and Umesh Shahra, are alleged to have been involved in various instances of bank frauds through diversion and siphoning off of funds and other kinds of accounting manipulations, thereby causing wrongful losses to several banks. ED investigation unearthed a conspiracy wherein a number of shell entities were created for round-tripping transactions. 4Continued on | P8 Khaleda Zia’s son returns after 17-yr exile PTI DHAKA Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) acting chairman Tarique Rahman returned to Dhaka to a rousing welcome by thousands of his supporters on Thursday after over 17 years in self-exile -- a homecoming that is expected to energise the party ahead of the February 12 parliamentary elections. Shortly after landing at the Hazrat Shahjalal International airport, Rahman, the leading contender to be the country's next prime minister, stood barefoot on Bangladeshi soil in a symbolic gesture to mark his return to the country's politics. Hours later, the 60-year-old son of ailing former prime minister Khaleda Zia, addressing his supporters, gave a clarion call to maintain peace and stability in the country and presented a broad plan to build an "inclusive Bangladesh". 4Continued on | P8