FP FREE PRESS The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. 13 NO. 324 | BHOPAL | MONDAY | MAY 6, 2024 | PAGES 12 PATHIRANA RETURNS TO SRI LANKA FOR INJURY RECOVERY SPORTS `3 - r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE EDIT A SELF-DEFEATING URBAN CYNICISM MENDHAR/JAMMU NEWS BRIEF PM to hold rallies in state tomorrow BHOPAL: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on the visit of Khargone and Dhar districts on Tuesday. He will address the public rallies in both districts to drum up support to the party candidates. At 10.30 am, he will address the public meeting at Mela Ground of Khargone. Later he will addressing public rally at PG College Ground of Dhar at 12.15 pm. Devender Yadav new Delhi Cong chief NEW DELHI: Amid a string of political developments in the Delhi Congress, Devender Yadav, who was the interim president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, took charge as the Delhi Congress President on Sunday. After taking charge as Delhi Congress president, Yadav affirmed that he will work hard to fulfill the responsibilities bestowed upon him and said INDIA bloc will win all seven seats in Delhi in the Lok Sabha elections. 6 of family killed in Rajasthan accident JAIPUR: Six members of a family were killed and two others injured after their car was hit by a truck in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district on Sunday, police said. The accident occurred on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway near the Banas river bridge. The family was on its way to offer prayers at a Ganesh temple in Sawai Madhopur, police said. e-Pass mandatory to enter Nilgiris NILGIRIS: In a bid to ensure stricter monitoring and control over incoming travellers, the Nilgiris district administration has announced the mandatory implementation of e-passes for outsiders entering the district. This decision comes following an order from the Madras High Court, effective from May 7, 2024. District Collector Aruna emphasized that an e-pass will be obligatory for individuals hailing from outside the state or district who intend to visit Nilgiris. Several people were detained for questioning on Sunday as a massive search operation for terrorists behind the Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district entered the second day, officials said. Additional Director General of Police, Jammu, Anand Jain and senior officers of the Army and intelligence agencies visited the ambush spot in the Surankote area. The Army also conducted aerial surveillance using a helicopter, they said. Five IAF personnel were injured in the attack on Saturday evening near Shahsitar and one of them later succumbed to injuries at a military hospital. The officials said a wellcoordinated joint operation by the Army and the police was underway in many areas, including Shahsitar, Gursai, Sanai and Sheendara Top, to neutralise the terrorists. The attackers are believed to have fled to a forest after the attack, they said. Besides AK assault rifles, the terrorists also used a US-made M4 carbine and steel bullets to cause maximum casualties, the officials added. CONTD. ON P7 WEATHER ONLINE REPORT Security personnel during cordon and search operation after at least one soldier was killed and four were injured as terrorists ambushed an Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy on Saturday, in Pooch district Corporal Pahade was to come home for son’s birthday on May 7 LAST RITES TODAY BHOPAL: Corporal Vicky Pahade, who was killed in a terror attack in Poonch region of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, was supposed to return home to celebrate his son's birthday on May 7, said the officials on Sunday. The slain soldier hailed from state's Chhindwara district and was a resident of Nonia-Karbal village. Pahade was killed while four other IAF soldiers were injured when militants ambushed a convoy of IAF in Poonch on May 4. The officials from the security forces informed that the attack took place when the IAF convoy was moving towards Sanai Top in the district's Surankote area. The officials added that the vehicles had been secured inside the air base in the General area near Shahsitar. The IAF said that the Air Warriors fought back by returning fire. The Indian Air Force's official X handle stated: "The CAS Air Chief Marshal V. R. Chaudhari and all personnel of the Air Force salute the braveheart Corporal Vikky Pahade, who made the supreme sacrifice in Poonch Sector, in the service of the nation. Our deepest condolences to the bereaved family. CONTD. ON P7 The attack on the Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district was the work of four Lashkar-eToiba (LeT) terrorists trained by Sajid Jutt, according to top intelligence sources. "After the previous attacks, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was developed. As the forces retaliated strongly, the terrorists fled. Search is on," said sources, adding, "The incident happened around 6 pm, when the convoy was returning to the air force station from Jaranwali. The IAF movement was possibly for the radar operations. Two people are in critical condition. Almost 17 terrorists in this area are from the Sajid Jutt group." One soldier, Corporal Vikky Pahade, was killed and four were injured as terrorists ambushed the IAF convoy, three weeks ahead of polling in the AnantnagRajouri Lok Sabha constituency. Poonch is part of the constituency, which goes to polls in the sixth phase on May 25. CONTD. ON P7 OUR STAFF REPORTER Bhopal Campaigning for nine Lok Sabha seats in the state, which are going to polls on May 7 in the third phase, came to an end on Sunday evening. Of the four phases of voting, polling on the highest number of seats is taking place in the third phase. As soon as the campaigning ended, the preparations for polling started. It is the hottest round of the four phases of the contest, because the fate of some senior politicians is going to be decided on May 7. Former chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal and addressed public meetings in Sagar, Betul and Morena. Rahul Gandhi addressed a public meeting in Bhind, and Priyanka Gandhi held a public meeting in MoreEVMs brought to Lal Parade Ground for na. In the third distribution on Monday for Lok Sabha poll phase, all eyes are on Tuesday. set on Vidisha, and Digvijaya Singh and Guna and Rajgarh. Union Minister JyotiraMost of the keenlyditya Scindia are contestfought elections are being ing in this phase. held in this phase. Both Bhopal, Vidisha, Rajthe parties are locked in a garh, Sagar, Betul, Guna, tough fight in Gwalior, Gwalior, Morena and Morena and Rajgarh. Bhind are going to polls. So, the election in this The BJP and the Conphase has become very gress campaigned hard in interesting. Scindia is the third phase of polling. contesting an election for Prime Minister Narenthe first time on the BJP dra Modi held a road show ticket. CONTD. ON P7 BRANDSUTRA Blue Corner Notice against MP Revanna NEW DELHI A Blue Corner notice, seeking information about Prajwal Revanna, the MP accused of sex crimes, has been issued by the Central Bureau of Information. Prajwal Revenna is said to be in Germany, where he went using a diplomatic passport, after rape allegations against him became public last week amid the general election. Confirming the Blue Corner notice, Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara said the investigators will now locate him. "After that, the SIT will do the procedures and bring him here... Once it is all over there will be further action," he said. The grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, the MP holds the family turf of Hassan. The police case against Revanna was filed on the complaint of a woman who claimed she had been abused for years by the MP and his father, HD Revanna. The matter has also morphed into a huge political row, with the BJP in alliance with Devegowda's Janata Dal Secular in Karnataka. ANOTHER JOLT TO CONG Bina MLA Nirmala Sapre joins BJP OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Just few days after its sitting MLA Ramniwas Rawat switched over to ruling party, Congress suffered yet another shocker when it's Bina MLA Nirmala Sapre joined BJP during the programme of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav in Rahatgarh of Sagar district on Sunday . After taking the membership of ruling party, she said that she was hurt over the indecent comment of State Congress President Jitu Patwari made against former minister Imarti Devi who comes from a schedule caste. She claimed that she could not sleep for three days after the Jitu Patwari made insulting comment against Imarti Devi. As she remained district president and women were contacting her, expressing 1ST VISIT AFTER TEMPLE INAUGURATION CAMPAIGNING ENDS FOR THIRD PHASE Nine seats going to polls tomorrow Sunrise : 05.53 Sunset : 06.54 LeT behind attack QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in A STIRRING JOURNEY 38.50c. 21.40c HUNT ON FOR PERPETRATORS ATTACK ON IAF CONVOY r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 concern over the derogatory comment of Jitu Patwari. Moved over the incident, she decided to join the BJP. In the meantime, she also added that while remaining in Congress, development was not taking place in her constituency. The development in her constituency remained hindered for the last six months and when surveyed the constituency she found that development works were not taking place. Hence she also joined BJP for the development of her constituency . Congress suffered the jolt just before the third phase of polling of general election. Earlier, CM welcomed her into the party fold by giving the party membership to her. Notably in the last assembly election, Nirmala Sapre was the lone Congress candidate who had won the election. ‘New Covid variant capable of evading immune system’ NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with chief minister Yogi Adityanath at a road show in Ayodhya on Sunday The new Covid-19 variant 'FLiRT', which is spreading fast in the US, is capable of evading the immune system due to a trans substitution of amino acids between two spike proteins, the experts said on Sunday . FLiRT, which belongs to Omicron's JN.1 lineage, is rapidly replacing the previous variant, Eris, in the US, the UK, New Zealand, and South Korea, according to Rajeev Gupta, Director of Internal Medicine at the CK Birla Hospital (R), Delhi. "A recent increase in hospitalisation rates in these countries has been attributed to this variant; however, it has remained a relatively small wave. The overall mortality rate has not increased," Gupta told IANS. CONTD. ON P7 SAND MAFIA’S SHAHDOL HORROR Investigation not limited to Youth lynched for tearing ASI crushed to 3 people, warns Trudeau pages of Guru Granth Sahib death by tractor TORONTO Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday that the investigation into the killing of India-designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar is "not limited" to the arrest of three Indian nationals and is ongoing. Trudeau said that it is important because "Canada is a rule-of-law country". The Canada PM's remarks came days after three Indian nationals were arrested for their alleged involvement in the killing of Nijjar. The Canadian police on Saturday released photographs of all three per- sons arrested in the last year's killing of Nijjar amid an ongoing probe into the alleged connections of the Indian government. The police have not given any evidence of any link to India, as was being speculated in Canadian media. India has repeatedly denied the allegations, terming them "absurd and motivated." Giving an address at the Sikh Foundation of Canada's Centennial Gala event held at the Royal Ontario Museum on Sunday Trudeau began by acknowledg, ing the arrests made in connection to the case, emphasising that the investigation remains ongoing. CONTD. ON P7 FEROZEPUR: A mentally sick was beaten to death on Saturday following an alleged sacrilege incident at Gurdwara Sahib Baba Bir Singh in Bandala village of Ferozepur, according to police. While speaking with media Ferozepur City DSP Sukhwinder Singh informed that a young man in Bandala village had desecrated the parts of Guru Granth Sahib in Gurdwara Sahib Baba Bir Singh. "Due to this, the nearby Sangat caught him on the spot and the young man was beaten up by the crowd." According to the information, in the afternoon of May 4, a young man named Bakshish Singh alias Gola, entered the Gurdwara Sahib in Gurdwara Baba Bir Singh in village Bandala and tore the pages of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Lakhwinder Singh, father of the deceased man, said that his son's mental condition was not good and he was on medication for two years. According to the family, Bakshish Singh was mentally sick and was undergoing treatment. He was killed by the mob in front of his father and the police. The police took the body into custody and sent it for post-mortem. The youth was later caught by the nearby Sangat on the spot and was beaten by the crowd. The police took the young man to a private hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. ‘No need for force, people of PoK will join India on their own’ NEW DELHI: India will never give up its claim on Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK) but it won't have to capture it with force because its people, on their own, would want to be part of India after seeing the development in Kashmir, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said. In an exclusive interview to PTI, Singh asserted that the ground situation has improved significantly in Jammu and Kashmir and that a time will come when AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) will no longer be required in the Union Territory . The defence minister, 'ONE-NATION ONE POLL' IN NEXT 5 YEARS The NDA, if voted to power again at the Centre, will implement ‘one nation-one election’ system across country CONGRESS ATTEMPTING HINDU-MUSLIM DIVIDE Rahul Gandhi has "no fire but the Congress is playing with fire" by attempting to create a Hindu-Muslim divide for electoral gains, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said here even as he asserted that the NDA will cross the 400seat mark in Lok Sabha polls and the BJP will improve its tally in most of the states. however, said the matter is under the domain of the Union Home Ministry and it will take appropriate decisions. He said elections will also be held there definitely but , wouldn't give a timeline. "I think India will not have to do anything. The way the ground situation has changed in Jammu and Kashmir, the way the region is witnessing economic progress and the way peace has returned there, I think demands will emerge from people of PoK that they should merge with India," he said. CONTD. ON P7 OUR STAFF REPORTER Bhopal/Shahdol An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) was allegedly crushed to death by a tractor of sand mafia in Shahdol district, on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday said , the police on Sunday Police . and administration razed the houses of the three accused of the case. Police have announced a reward of Rs 30,000 against the absconding accused, Surendra Singh, a resident of the Beohari region, around 40 km from district headquarters Shahdol. The deceased has been identified as ASI Mahendra Bagri. Bagri had gone to nab a culprit when the tractor laden with illegally mined sand crushed him to death. Two other cops who were accompanying Bagri, ran away from the spot to save their lives and alerted senior officials. The police have arrested three accused, including the tractor driver, however, the main accused who is said to be involved in illegal sand mining was still absconding, police said on Sunday . CONTD. ON P7 BUILDINGS OF ACCUSED RAZED SP Shahdol, Prateek Kumar informed that the illegal construction of all the three accused had been razed by the district administration which was situated in three different place in the district, on Sunday. He also added that on Sunday, the team of district administration, mining department and police a joint team had formed. "In a massive action the team had seized more than 25 tractor trolley and trucks carrying sand. Some of them are involved in illegal mining and some of them are the vehicles of the contractor. In the primary investigation it is found that the vehicles are of contractor, but they had found in the another location, which is the violation of the mining norms", he added.