FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLI No. 213 | INDORE | THURSDAY | JANUARY 9, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.in Sports Bumrah reigns supreme as No 1 in Test rankings P.14 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE UJJAIN MONEY PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK GDP growth likely to be 6.3% in FY25: SBI report Nation Kejriwal gets support of INDIA allies for polls P.7 Benami Battle: I-T attaches assets worth over Rs 900 crore in state Rajan Raikwar BPU has attached more than 1,400 properties, marking the highest number of attachments by any Benami Unit across the country Madhya Pradesh has emerged as a major hotspot for benami properties, with the Income Tax (I-T) Department’s Benami Prohibition Unit (BPU) in Bhopal making significant strides in cracking down on such illegal transactions. Since the implementation of the amended Prohibition of Benami Property Act in 2016, the BPU has attached more than 1,400 benami properties worth over Rs 900 crore — the highest fp number of attachments by any Benami Unit across the country. Benami transactions, in which property is purchased in the name of a proxy (bena- Briefs PRAYAGRAJ Sambhal: HC stays civil court proceedings The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday stayed further proceedings before a civil court hearing the dispute over Jama Masjid in UP's Sambhal. Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal passed the direction on a revision plea filed by the mosque's management committee. The plea was filed after a Supreme Court order related to the matter and challenges the proceedings aside from the maintainability of the suit filed over the dispute in the Sambhal district court. The plea alleged the suit was filed on the afternoon of November 19, 2024, and within hours, the judge appointed a court commissioner, and directed him to carry out an initial survey at the mosque site. MALAPPURAM Elephant goes berserk Twenty-three people were injured when a captive elephant ran amok during a religious ceremony at a mosque near Tirur on Wednesday. Of the injured, one person is in critical condition after being picked up and tossed by the elephant, police said. The remaining 22 individuals suffered minor injuries in the stampede caused by panic-stricken people following the elephant's attack at around 12.30 am, an official at the Tirur police station said. LAST WORD Poet-editor Pritish Nandy is no more midar) while the real owner remains hidden, have been a growing concern in the state. The BPU has uncovered increasingly sophisticated methods employed by the real beneficial owners to conceal their identities. Notably, nontribal individuals were found using tribals as proxies to buy land in tribal areas. Several resorts built within the Pench Tiger Reserve were among those attached in this operation. In one high-profile case, shares worth hundreds of crores held by benami employees and promoters of a prominent Bhopal-based listed company were seized after the BPU unravelled a complex scheme. Satish Goyal, the Director General of Income Tax (DGIT) Investigation for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, commended the exceptional efforts of the BPU in Bhopal for its success in addressing the rising issue of benami transactions in the region. He said that BPU Bhopal stands as the leading unit in the country, with one of the highest numbers of benami property attachments, underscoring its crucial role in the fight against black money and corruption. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 6 die in Tirupati ticket scramble Leading from front HC orders digitisation of records of gas tragedy survivors PTI S Balakrishnan JABALPUR MUMBAI One of the most colourful editors, Pritish Nandy, passed away on Wednesday afternoon. He was 78. According to a source close to him, Pritish had a shower around 1:30 pm in his SoBo apartment and sat down on a chair. He then suffered a massive cardiac arrest and died before medical aid could be rushed. The funeral was held in the evening in the presence of close friends. Apparently, the family wanted to keep it a private affair. A born poet who made it big in Kolkata, Pritish bagged the Padma Shri at a young age. 4Continued on | P8 FP News Service TIRUPATI Six devotees, including three women, were killed, and several others injured in a stampede on Wednesday night as hundreds scrambled for tickets to the Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam at the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple on Tirumala Hills, according to a police official. The toll is expected to rise. Videos showing police administering CPR to injured devotees, including women, and transferring victims to ambulances quickly went viral. The incident occurred when devotees began queuing at Bairagi Pattida Park. The resulting chaos led to the deadly stampede near the Vaikuntha Dwara Darshan ticketing centers. In response, the Chief Minister has sent senior officials to the scene to assist the injured and ensure they receive adequate medical care. Devotees from across India had gathered for the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam, which starts on January 10. Over 4,000 devotees were in line for tickets when overcrowding triggered the stampede. The MP High Court has directed the Union health ministry secretary, state chief secretary, and Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre to finalise an action plan within a week to digitise medical records of the 1984 gas tragedy patients. The HC's order dated January 6 was uploaded on Wednesday. The division bench of Chief Justice SK Kait and Justice Vivek Jain issued the directives while hearing a contempt petition filed by the Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila Udyog Sanghathan on rehabilitation of the survivors of the 1984 tragedy. "It seems that the respondents are not serious about the work to be completed", the bench observed. 4Continued on | P8 HOLLYWOOD ABLAZE Thousands, including celebs, flee as LA wildfires get out of control FP News Service LOS ANGELES More than 30,000 people evacuated their homes as wildfires ripped through an upscale coastal area of Los Angeles overnight, with Hollywood celebrities among those fleeing by car and on foot as flames engulfed homes and set hillsides ablaze, a Reuters report said. Numerous buildings were destroyed and nearly 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares) burned in Pacific Palisades, which lies between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu. The area is home to many film and music stars. Roads were jammed with people fleeing the inferno, some abandoning their cars as flames licked the edges and plumes of smoke and flames rose in the night sky. The flames that broke out on Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the foothills of LA spread so rapidly that staff at a senior living centre had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot. The residents waited in their bedclothes as embers fell around them until ambulances, buses and even construction vans arrived to take them to safety. In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases. Actor Steve Guttenberg told KTLA television that friends of his were impeded from evacuating because others had abandoned their cars in the road. offgrid 13-yr-old girl leaves family for spiritual life Agencies PRAYAGRAJ In a surprising turn of events at the Mahakumbh, 13-yearold Rakhi Dhakre has made the bold decision to leave her family and adopt the life of a sannyasini. Now known as Sannyasini Gauri Giri, she has chosen to reside with her guru, Mahant Kaushal Giri Maharaj, dedicating herself to spiritual practices. Mahant Kaushal Giri remarked, "Baba Giri is a challenging path. My child, you must understand, that you are not yet ready to take on this responsibility." In response, the young girl firmly rejected his statement, asserting, "I will become a hermit." However, Mahant Kaushal Giri cautioned her, saying, "You still have time to reconsider before the rituals are performed." "She is closely observing our daily life and traditions, contem- plating whether she can integrate into our way of life, Giri said. Giri added, "The man is the master of his wish; is there no freedom in this India? Everyone has been given freedom; India gave such a rule to everyone that she has made everyone free.' Gauri Giri, aka Rakhi Dakhe, said," I was 11 years old when I took Guru diksha. I took sanyas at the age of 13." She E-paper Edit Centrist Cascading Collapse P.10 UNDER SCANNER | Properties linked to politicians, bureaucrats BHOPAL MUMBAI added, " It was my childhood wish to take sanyas and become a saint but being the younger one, my family members did not listen to me. When I came to the fair of Maha Kumbh, I told Guru ji and he refused. At first he smiled and kept laughing and said that it is not an easy thing to become a saint. It is very difficult to become one. Not everyone can become one." Maoists back farmers' stir, call for ‘Dilli Chalo’ march Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Pamphlets and banners issued by the banned CPI (Maoist) extending their support to the ongoing farmers' protest at Delhi borders have surfaced in the forests of Balaghat district. The police have recovered two-page pamphlets and a banner in the Rupjhar area of the district, sources revealed on Wednesday. The pamphlets, issued by the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh Special Zonal Committee of CPI (Maoist), call for a march to Delhi. The pamphlets state, “The ongoing farmers’ stir is not just the agitation of farmers from Punjab and Haryana but is, in fact, a movement of every farmer in the country, who has been ruined due to the antifarmer policies of the Modi government.” The Maoists have urged people, farmers, labourers, and allied organisations, including environmentalists and intellectuals in the three states—Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh—to support the farmers’ movement in every possible way. 4Continued on | P8 MAHAKAL DARSHAN SCAM Probe team busy with small fish, kingpins go scot-free Who charged Rs 1L from accused for ‘facility’ NIRUKT BHARGAVA UJJAIN The Mahakaleshwar Temple’s paid darshan scam continues to unravel. Despite over a Rs 1 lakh per month to two dozen arrests, key masterMTMC officials for patronage. minds behind the extortion Despite the claims, the two ofnetwork are still at large. ficials were never named as The scandal, which came to accused in the case. Instead, light on December 19, 2024, one of them was even ‘rereveals a pattern of corwarded’ with key reruption within the sponsibility in the temple's manageday-to-day affairs of ment, where Mahathe temple. kaleshwar Temple Sources claimed Management Comthat the probe team E xc l u s i v e mittee (MTMC) emcame to know about a ployees extorted money self-styled media person from devotees in exchange for who constructed two houses Bhasmaarti and paid darshan through bank loans. However, facilities. The probe team has both loans were repaid within desisted from touching a few a short duration. The accused high-ranking officials susis on the run. pected of facilitating this C o l l e c t o r- c u m - M T M C racket, thus raising a question chairman Neeraj Kumar Singh over the ongoing probe. The said that only 30% of probe probe continues but will the had been completed so far. As real culprits face justice? the scam was continuing for Sources privy to the probe past several months, time was told Free Press that during inneeded to complete the probe. terrogation, the prime ac4Continued on | P8 cused claimed that they paid FP ED seizes 4.25 kg gold from locker Our Staff Reporter INDORE In a consequential search action by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday in connection with the online cricket and tennis betting scam, 3.50 kg gold bullion and 750 gm gold jewellery were seized from the locker of one the three accused, the agency revealed on Wednesday. The city based Sub-Zonal office of the ED conducted search operations on Tuesday at the bank locker belonging to one of the accused Sanjay Agrawal. During the search, gold bullion of 3.50 kg having foreign marking along with 750 grams of gold jewellery having approximate value at Rs. 3.36 crore were seized. Further investigation into the matter was underway. It may be noted that acting on the basis of an FIR registered by the Ujjain police in re- Trump may invoke emergency powers Online Report WASHINGTON BETTING SCAM lation to the illegal cricket and tennis betting, the ED had launched a major search operations on December 12 at five locations, including Indore, Ujjain and Ludhiana, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002. The ED investigation revealed that one person namely Piyush Chopra, who is considered the kingpin of the case, in connivance with other associates Abhay Chopra and Sanjay Agrawal generated Proceeds of Crime (POC) by running illegal cricket betting Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL A suspicious drone was found in the Bhopal Central Jail by the jail authorities and the matter was handed over to the police, the officials said here on Wednesday. The jail authorities rushed to the jail premises as one of the jail warders found a drone near the high security cell, near the temple where new barracks are under construction. Jail superintendent Rakesh said that at around 3.30 pm on Wednesday, jail warder Sonwar Chorasia spotted the drone. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 ONOE JPC throws up an 18000-page report Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI US President-elect Donald Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency to provide legal justification for a series of universal tariffs on allies and adversaries, CNN reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The declaration would allow Trump to construct a new tariff pro program by using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, which authorizes a president to manage imports during a national emergency, the report said. The move will further allow Trump to reset the global balance of trade in his second term. ‘‘Nothing is off the table," a source familiar with the matter told CNN, acknowledging that a discussion had taken place over declaring a national emergency. Drone found in Bhopal Jail The first meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday discussed the proposed legislations on One Nation One Election, which were referred to it for scrutiny. Following the meeting, all members were provided a bag containing the report on ONOE that runs into nearly 18,000 pages. The members felt that the matter needs wider discussion and more time must be allotted to the committee, a request that has been conveyed to the chairperson. Senior officials of the ministry of law and justice, including the law secretary, made a brief presentation before the committee on the finer points of the Bill. 4Continued on | P8