FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. 14 No. 334 | BHOPAL | SUNDAY | MAY 18, 2025 | Pages 18 ` 4 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE www.freepressjournal.in Parul smashes NR in season opener P.16 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: BHOPAL 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. Agencies Sent to 5-day police remand by Hisar court Rajesh Moudgil CHANDIGARH Haryana police on Saturday arrested a Hisar-based woman travel blogger for allegedly spying for Pakistan, providing sensitive information to its intelligence agencies. The police said YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra was arrested under sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and Neelesh Yadav resigns as ADJ, appointed addl advocate general Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL 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. Pak to rebuild JuD HQ NEW DELHI n Pakistan government has assured to 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 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-its-kind project in Madhya Pradesh. “We will be the first in cen- PRESS PUNE INDORE NASHIK Cinema Patralekhaa’s struggle to... P.18 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. Section 152 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). According to the police, Jyoti was in contact with one Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, an employee of Pakistan High Commission, in New Delhi, since 2023 and also one Ali Ehwan, who ensured her staying and travelling in Pakistan in 2023. She visited Pakistan twice that year. She was also introduced to two others— Shakir and Rana Shahbaz. Danish who was said to be her handler and the one who allegedly introduced her to Pakistani Intelligence Operatives 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- 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 According to police, Jyoti was in contact with Ehsan-urRahim, an employee of Pakistan High Commission, in Delhi (PIOs). She also travelled to Bali, Indonesia with one of PIOs. Notably, Danish was declared persona non grata by the Indian government and expelled on May 13. The police said Jyoti remained in touch with all the operatives via encrypted plat- forms on WhatsApp, Snapchat and Telegram and the accused, who runs YouTube channel ‘Travel with Jo’, is allegedly a part of a network active in northern states, including Punjab and Haryana, with key operatives acting as agents, financial conduits and informants. Meanwhile, the police said that the accused was part of a large network and that five others have also been arrested for their alleged roles in spying and conveying sensitive information and facilitating financial and logistical support to Pakistani handlers. While she was also accused of projecting a positive image of Pakistan on social media, her handlers also exploited the relevant information from her large subscribers’ base. 4Continued on | P8 7 ‘musketeers’ to apprise world about Op Sindoor, India’s fight against terror 3 panels to be led by INDIA bloc MPs, 2 each by BJP, NDA ally MPs WHO GOES WHERE Shashi Tharoor is expected to lead delegation to US Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar NEW DELHI Demonstrating its eagerness to project that the Indian polity was united in the fight against terrorism, the Centre on Saturday picked three MPs from the 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 need to conduct Operation Sindoor. However, just the way BJP’s Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah had put paid to India’s attempts to show that all communities stood united against CBSE ASKS SCHOOLS TO SET UP 'SUGAR BOARDS' PTI NEW DELHI The CBSE has directed affiliated schools to establish "sugar boards" to monitor and reduce sugar intake of children, according to officials. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has noted that there has been a significant increase in Type 2 diabetes among children, a condition once primarily seen in adults, over the past decade. "This alarming trend is largely attributed to high sugar intake, often due to the easy availability of sugary snacks, beverages and processed foods within school environments. The excessive consumption of sugar not only increases the risk of diabetes but also contributes to obesity, dental problems and other metabolic disorders, ultimately impacting children's long-term health and academic performance," the CBSE said in a letter to school principals. Studies indicate that sugar constitutes 13 per cent of daily calorie intake for children aged four to 10 years, and 15 per cent for those aged 11 to 18 years, substantially exceeding the recommended limit of 5 per cent. 4Continued on | P8 Teacher dismissed for praying for Pak soldiers IANS E-paper Readers’ Corner SINDOOR P.6 offgrid BHOPAL MUMBAI PAK SPY RING: Travel blogger, five others held Pak PM admits India’s missiles hit Nur Khan Airbase, other sites Online Report UJJAIN 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 BHOPAL iii QUALITY @ VALUE WORLD Sports Our Staff Reporter ESTD-1983 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 Tharoor thanks Centre ongress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said he was "honoured" to be chosen by the Government of India to lead one of the all-party delegations, asserting that when national interest is involved, he would "not be found wanting." Tharoor's acceptance statement came even as the Congress revealed that it had excluded him from the list of MPs it had officially submitted to the Centre for the initiative C Pakistan’s subversive and divisive attempts following the Pahalgam terror attack by making uncharitable remarks against briefing officer Sofiya Qureshi, albeit without naming her, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma too attacked the display of political unity by urging the Congress leadership to drop Gaurav Gogoi—again without naming him—from its list of delegates. 4Continued on | P8 Ravi Shankar Prasad is expected to go to Gulf countries and Algeria Supriya Sule-led delegation is likely to travel to the Middle East and Africa Delegation being led by Sanjay Jha would go east and visit Japan, Singapore and South Korea