FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. XLI No. 340 | INDORE | SUNDAY | MAY 18, 2025 | Pages 18 ` 4 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 FREE www.freepressjournal.in Mahi strikes gold against Pakistan P.17 US instructions led to ceasefire: BJP MLA There is no end in sight to controversial statements made by politicians in the state over the recent tensions between India and Pakistan. A video of the legislator from Mangawan in Rewa, Narendra Prajapati, surfaced on Saturday. In the video, Prajapati is saying the ceasefire was declared following instructions of the United Nations. Prajapati, however, said he mentioned the name of the United Nations instead of the United States by mistake. It was a slip of the tongue, he said. He clearly said it was the United States which brokered the ceasefire. According to Prajapati, Pakistan would have been wiped out under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi if the United States did not broker the ceasefire. Whenever an India-Pakistan war took place, Pakistan had to face defeat, Prajapati said.   fp Briefs NEW DELHI 2 ISIS-linked absconders held The NIA has arrested two absconding members of a sleeper module of banned terror organisation ISIS in a 2023 case related to fabrication and testing of IEDs in Maharashtra's Pune, according to a statement on Saturday. The two men, Abdullah Faiyaz Shaikh alias Diaperwala and Talha Khan, were intercepted at Mumbai International Airport when they tried to return to India from Jakarta, Indonesia. NEW DELHI Port curbs on B’desh goods India on Saturday imposed port restrictions on the import of certain goods, such as readymade garments and processed food items, from Bangladesh. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade, under the Commerce Ministry, has issued a notification in this regard. Narendra Prajapati Usha Thakur backs Shah egislator Usha Thakur, who clapped for Vijay Shah’s statement, came in support of the minister. She said Shah’s intention was not wrong, but it was just a slip of the tongue. Everyone knows that he did not mean to insult anyone, said Thakur. But the Congress is trying to corner Thakur and other BJP leaders over the issue. L Prajapati made the statement at a Tiranga rally in Mangawan. This was the fourth controversial statement from any politician from the state after the EDITIONS: INDORE Israel expands military ops to press Hamas release hostages NO END IN SIGHT | No let-up in controversial statements over tensions between India and Pak Our Staff Reporter iii QUALITY @ VALUE WORLD Sports BHOPAL ESTD-1983 ceasefire. India made it clear that there was no third-party involvement in the ceasefire. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also clearly said Pakistan was so scared of India that the DGMO of Pakistan called for a ceasefire. The legislator’s statement indicates the Prime Minister’s remark was wrong.  After Minister Vijay Shah, Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda and MP Faggan Singh Kulaste, Prajapati is the fourth politician to make such a controversial statement over the ceasefire. The Congress has begun to corner Prajapati for his statement. According to the Congress, the central government said there was no third-party involvement in the ceasefire. But the BJP leader said the USA brokered the ceasefire, the Congress said. The leader of the Opposition, Umang Singhar, said the leaders of the ruling party in MP did not know what they were saying. The BJP must teach their leaders how to speak, he said. Rajesh Moudgil CHANDIGARH In the chrome-and-neon dazzle of influencer culture, Jyoti Rani Malhotra was a rising star. Her YouTube channel Travel with Jo was all Himalayan sunsets and chai with locals—her voice perky, her face always just-so in the frame. Her tagline: “The world is my home.” What no one knew was that her home had cracks deep enough to swallow a nation’s secrets. Until Friday. The knock on her Hisar apartment door came at Neelesh Yadav resigns as ADJ, appointed addl advocate general A judge has become Additional Advocate General after resigning from the post of ADJ. Additional secretary of the law department, Neelesh Yadav, has resigned from the post of ADJ. His resignation was accepted on the high court’s recommendations. The state government appointed him as additional advocate general immediately after his resignation. Yadav worked as ADJ in different places in the state. n Pakistan government has assured to India's missiles hit their targets. While addressing a ceremony held at the Pakistan Monument on Friday, Sharif said, "At around 2:30 am on May 10, General Syed Asim Ex-jihadi named for key White House post Indore zoo set for captive breeding of King Cobra rebuild the mosques -- the JuD headquarters -- at Muridke destroyed in the Indian strike, the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League said on Saturday. n The Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) is a political wing of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and is a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that has carried out terror strikes in many parts of India, including the horrific 26/11 Mumbai attack in 2008. Arsh Rafik Visaal INDORE The Donald Trump administration on Saturday named, Ismail Royer, a former jihadist, who spent 13 years in jail on terror-related charges, as a member of the White House’s Religious Freedom Commission advisory board. Royer was indicted on terrorism-related charges, including conspiracy to levy war against the US and providing material support to al-Qaeda and LeT in 2003. He pleaded guilty in 2004 to aiding and abetting the use of firearms and explosives, receiving a 20-year sentence and serving 13 years, Washington Post reported. 4Continued on | P8 The Indore Zoo is all set to script history by becoming the first zoo in central India to launch a King Cobra breeding initiative. In a significant conservation milestone, the zoo will soon welcome a male King Cobra from Bhopal’s Van Vihar National Park to pair with a rescued female already housed in Indore. The initiative has received the green signal from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), making it a first-of-itskind project in Madhya Pradesh. “We will be the first in cen- BHOPAL NASHIK Cinema Patralekhaa’s struggle to... P.16 dawn. No cameras, no warning. Just silence—and a warrant. Within an hour, one of India’s most photogenic vloggers had become its most unlikely spy suspect. By evening, six arrests had followed: Devendra from Kaithal, the mild-mannered grad student who used Kartarpur pilgrimages to snap cantonment pictures; Guzala from Malerkotla, who moved cash with the precision of a stockbroker; Nauman, Arman, and Yameen—the silent shadows, couriers and watchers. A network stitched across Punjab A government school teacher in Madhya Pradesh's Sehore district has been dismissed from service after allegedly posting a video on social media in which she prayed for the safety of Pakistani soldiers during India’s recently conducted ‘Operation Sindoor’. Operation Sindoor, an offensive targeting Pakistan- based terrorist camps, was launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 innocent civilians were killed.The teacher, identified as Shahnaz Parveen, was employed at a government higher secondary school in Mehatwada in Sehore, around 60 km from Bhopal. The video, which she purportedly shared on her Facebook account, features her praying, “Allah, keep Pakis- tani soldiers safe.”After the video was circulated on social media, the Sehore district education department issued a termination order on Friday, stating that Parveen’s ac- Jyoti Malhotra Arman Nuh and Haryana, their roles choreographed like a spy thriller gone digital. Jyoti Malhotra has been charged under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Naumi Ilahi Act, 1923, and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. She is now in five days’ police remand while investigators question her for further details. An FIR was filed at Hisar Civil Lines police station following a complaint by Sub Inspector Sanjay, confirmed Hisar police spokesperson Vikas Kumar. This wasn’t espionage with trench coats and dead drops. It was espionage 2.0—driven by hashtags, burner phones, and Instagram polls. Elegant, feminine, and lethal. Jyoti’s story began, as these stories often do, with a visa and a man. Danish, he called himself—Ehsan-ur-Rahim, a diplomat at the Pakistan High Commission. 4Continued on | P8 UNITY THEME AS 7 TEAMS SET TO FAN OUT WITH DELHI MESSAGE Munir called me on secure line and informed me that India's ballistic missiles have hit Nur Khan Airbase and other areas. 4Continued on | P8 IN A FIRST FOR CENTRAL INDIA tral India to take this initiative on King Cobra breeding,” said Nihar Parulekar, zoo education officer. To ensure a comfortable and natural environment for the pair, the zoo will develop a special enclosure imitating the snake’s natural habitat, complete with a waterfall, grassy zones and dry resting spaces. If successful, this will mark the first recorded King Cobra breeding in captivity in the state, boosting regional conservation efforts. 4See also | P2 (L-R) BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, Congress’s Shashi Tharoor, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, DMK’s Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, BJP’s Baijayant Panda, JDU’s Sanjay Kumar Jha and Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde are heading the delegations Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI The Centre on Saturday picked three MPs from Opposition parties, two from its NDA allies and two from the BJP to lead the seven delegations that would travel to nearly 40 countries from next week to convey India’s decision to conduct Operation Sindoor. The process was not without its hiccups. Assam Chief INDIA-PAKISTAN CEASEFIRE ‘UK and US working on CBMs and dialogue’ Agencies ISLAMABAD Britain on Saturday claimed it is working with the US to ensure the ceasefire between India and Pakistan endures and that "confidencebuilding m e a su re s " and dialogue take place, foreign minister David Lammy said on Saturday. The claim adds weight to US President Donald Trump's assertion that he helped broker the cease fire. "We will continue to work with the United States to ensure that we get an enduring ceasefire, to ensure that dialogue is happening and to work through with Pakistan and India how we can get to confidence and confidence-building measures between the two sides," Lammy told Reuters in Pakistan's capital Islamabad at the end of a twoday visit. The US had said after the ceasefire was struck that talks should take place in a thirdcountry venue but no dates or location for the talks have been announced. 4Continued on | P8 Teacher dismissed for praying for Pak soldiers IANS E-paper Readers’ Corner A HEART IN TWO PLACES P.6 offgrid BHOPAL MUMBAI Our Staff Reporter Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif admitted that India's ballistic missiles hit Nur Khan Airbase and other sites on May 10, a rare acknowledgement that contradicts Pakistan's usual stance of denial when it comes to Indian military action. Sharif said Army Chief General Asim Munir called him around 2:30 am to report the strikes. Sharif mentioned the use of local technology and Chinese jets by Pakistan's Air Force, but confirmed that Online Report PUNE BHOPAL Pak to rebuild JuD HQ NEW DELHI PRESS PAK SPY RING: Travel blogger, five others held Pak PM admits India’s missiles hit Nur Khan Airbase, other sites Agencies UJJAIN tions were in violation of Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and amounted to "negligence and indiscipline." The notice, signed by the District Education Officer (DEO), read: “Shahnaz Parveen’s act, as observed in the video circulated on social media, has been found to be in breach of the conduct expected from a government employee. Her statements are not only inappropriate but also detrimental to national sentiment during a sensitive military operation.”It further cited that the teacher’s actions constituted a violation under Rule 9 of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules. "Based on the findings of a departmental inquiry, she has been terminated from service with immediate effect," the notice stated. 4Continued on | P8 Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma attacked the display of political unity by urging the Congress leadership to drop Gaurav Gogoi from its list of delegates. Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs announced that “in the context of Operation Sindoor and India’s continued fight against cross-border terrorism” 4Continued on | P8 ‘Narad Muni politics’ Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI The Congress on Saturday accused the ruling BJP of playing “Narad Muni politics” for including its party MP Shashi Tharoor’s name in the list of seven parliamentarians who would be heading all-party delegations abroad to explain Operation Sindoor for doing so without consulting the party leadership. The Congress general secretary termed the saffron party’s move “dishonest” and “outright mischievous” and insisted. 4Continued on | P8