FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLII No. 210 | INDORE | MONDAY | JANUARY 5, 2026 | Pages 12 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.in Sports Tyson Fury announces boxing return a year after retirement P.10 ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE MONEY 4Continued on | P8 fp Agencies MUMBAI FACING TRIAL Briefs What the newly unsealed US indictment of Maduro, his wife Cilia Flores, and his son says: n Maduro accused of running a "corrupt, illegitimate govt". n He is accused of partnering with "some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world". India on Sunday voiced "deep concern" over the US' capture of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in a military operation and called for a peaceful resolution of the issues to ensure stability in the region. In its first reaction to the unprecedented American action in Venezuelan capital Caracas early on Saturday, New Delhi also reaffirmed its support for the well-being of the people of the oilrich South American country and said it is closely monitoring the unfolding developments ‘Happy New Year’ Colombia next? Months before his capture, Maduro had dared Trump to arrest him. “Come get me. I will wait for him here in Miraflores. Don’t be late, coward,” he had said in August. On Sunday, the White House mocked him by releasing a video where US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said Maduro “had his chance – until he didn’t.” A video has surfaced showing Maduro being escorted by US Drug Enforcement Administration officers inside the agency’s headquarters in New York. The 'perp walk' footage shows him handcuffed and dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt. In the video Maduro is heard saying “good night” and “Happy New Year” to officials present there. After the Venezuelan operation, Trump has issued a warning to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, telling him to “watch his a**”. Trump said: “He’s making cocaine and they’re sending it into the US, so he does have to watch his a**.” Without directly naming Maduro, Petro called the US action an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America. STATE FREEZES UNDER SEVERE COLD, THICK FOG Chill chart Ram Rahim granted parole City Temp Pachmarhi 6.4 Shivpuri 7.0 7.4 Nowgong Ratlam 7.4 5.1 Sheopur 7.6 Mandsaur 6.4 Mandla 7.6 Gwalior Intense cold threw normal life out of gear across Madhya Pradesh on Sunday. Bhopal woke up to a morning wrapped in thick fog which reduced visibility to a substantial level. The state capital remained under a thick fog blanket till noon. Later, the sun appeared from behind the clouds to pro- Niwari 5.0 Datia Our Staff Reporter 2.5 Rajgarh BHOPAL Khajuraho 8.0 Holiday for Class 1 to 8 students Due to the intense cold wave gripping Indore, the district administration has announced a three-day holiday for schools to ensure the safety of children vide some relief from the biting cold. Bhopal’s maximum temperature settled at 18.5 de- 6.4 grees Celsius while minimum temperature was 10.8 degrees Celsius. Visibility in Bhopal, Indore and Gwalior was between 50-200 metres. Meteorologists said moisture after a western disturbance caused the fog, which might continue for two days.  As per the weatherman, many parts of the state will continue to battle an intensifying cold wave and dense morning fog. 4Continued on | P8 NEW DELHI 25th anniv of Tejas’ 1st flight The Indian Air Force on Sunday commemorated the 25th anniversary of home grown Tejas Light Combat Aircraft’s (LCA) historic first flight. “On the 25th anniversary of Tejas LCA's historic first flight, #IAF reflects on enduring partnership in building this fighter. Congratulations to ADA's innovative scientists, HAL's skilled engineers, brave IAF & IN test pilots/engineers, and all IAF personnel who've championed self-reliance. Sky is the limit!” said the IAF in a post on social media. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has informed the International Cricket Council (ICC) that they will not allow their national team to play its T20 World Cup matches scheduled in India, possibly in retribution to the KKR decision to release Mustafizur Rahman from its squad. Speculations were rife about Bangladesh’s possible move, and expectedly BCB expressed in an email to ICC expressed its inability to play the matches in India. BCB’s move came after a directive from the Bangladesh government’s sports ministry incharge Asif Nazrul to write formally to ICC on shifting the ties to Sri Lanka. See Sports n Maduro and his wife allegedly ordered kidnappings, beatings and murders "against those who owed them drug money." Dare and truth CHANDIGARH Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples and is currently lodged in the Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak, was again granted a 40-day parole, said sources on Sunday. His latest parole comes months after he was granted a similar parole in August last year. Singh will come out of prison for the 15th time since he was convicted in 2017. The Dera Sacha Sauda head is serving a 20-year sentence given in 2017 for raping two of his disciples. See nation n He is indicted on four counts: narco-terrorism conspiracy; cocaine importation conspiracy; possession of machine guns and destructive devices; and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. India voices deep concern over US military action NASHIK Shift WC ties out of India: B’desh to ICC NOT AT WAR WITH VENEZUELA: US A day after US strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday America is at war "against drug trafficking organisations", not Venezuela. He said the US military will maintain a “quarantine” around Venezuela to prevent the entry and exit of oil tankers under American sanctions, as the Trump administration moved to exert what he called “leverage” over the country’s leadership following the capture of President Nicolás Maduro. Rubio, like President Trump the day before, did not rule out a deployment of US troops in Venezuela. But though Trump said after the commando raid that seized Maduro that the US intended to “run” the country and reclaim American oil interests, Pentagon officials said that there were no US military personnel in Venezuela, and Maduro’s aides still appeared to be in control of the country. Publicly, Venezuelan officials have projected defiance. Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who also serves as oil minister, has taken over as interim president BHOPAL PM sends Olympic hopes soaring Biswajeet Banerjee & Agencies LEWD CONTENT MUSK VOWS ACTION AFTER GOVT PUSH Agencies VARANASI NEW DELHI PM Narendra Modi on Sunday asserted that India is preparing with full strength to host the 2036 Olympic Games, and declared his government was committed to providing "more and more players greater opportunities to compete" by hosting mega sporting events in the country. Virtually inaugurating the 72nd Senior National Volleyball Championship being held here, Modi said the government was making every possible effort to provide exposure to budding athletes to take up Olympic sports, and schemes like Khelo India were proving a game-changer in harnessing talent. He said India's growing clout in sports could be gauged from the fact that it had hosted 20 top-notch international competitions in the last 10 years. He high- lighted how initiatives like Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPs) were transforming the sports ecosystem. Microblogging site X will act against illegal content by removing it, permanently suspending accounts that uploaded the material and working with local governments as required, the Elon Musk-owned social media platform said on Sunday. The statement from Global Government Affairs (GGA) account of X came after it said people using the platform’s AI service, Grok, to create illegal content will face the same consequences as those uploading illegal content. “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content,” Musk said. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 The 2030 Commonwealth Games will be held in India, and the country is making strong efforts to host the 2036 Olympics Narendra Modi Prime Minister MUMBAI E-paper Brand Sutra Pattern Recognition P.12 FLUID TIMES | Maduro’s deputy & oil minister Rodriguez is new prez, Washington hopeful of working with her Agencies PUNE Edit Donald Trump’s latest war P.6 Investors brace for a week packed with sensitive data WASHINGTON UJJAIN IPL blackout? Bangladesh government’s sports ministry in-charge Asif Nazrul has requested the adviser for the country's I&B ministry to ensure that broadcast of IPL in Bangladesh is suspended. "Under no circumstances will we tolerate any insult to Bangladeshi cricket, cricketers, or Bangladesh itself. The days of servitude are over," he said. BHAGIRATHPURA TRAGEDY 256 discharged in 24 hrs; water test reports negative Our Staff Reporter INDORE Amidst panic over the deaths due to consumption of contaminated water at Bhagirathpura, the city heaved a sigh of relief when as many as 256 affected people were discharged from different hospitals in the last 24 hours on Sunday. Besides, the test reports of water samples taken from the area on Saturday turned out to be negative. "As far as the situation is concerned, everything is under control, and we are in the declining phase of the epidemic. The water supply has been shut off, and we have to wait until the supply resumes after chlorination, but ICMR experts are hopeful that this outbreak will end soon. Admissions are decreasing... We are distributing ORS packets in homes... People are cooperating with us, and social groups are also helping us manage the situation... Currently, the death toll is 6... If anyone comes in with diarrhoea, we will include them in the count. Currently, 149 active cases are being treated, and 256 patients have been discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours," said Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), Rahul to meet affected families SDM suspended for terming min’s remarks ‘despotic, inhuman’ Dewas SDM order cited 14 deaths in Indore tragedy, contrary to official toll of 4 Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Our Staff Reporter Dr Madhav Prasad Hasani. Advising patients, he further said, "We have started a call centre to get health updates from the patients... The best way to prevent infection is to drink boiled water, although the district administration and the municipal corporation are working hard to ensure proper chlorination of the hard water supplied in that area." In a late-night development, Ujjain Divisional Commissioner Asheesh Singh suspended Dewas SDM Anand Malviya for using terms such as “despotic” and “inhuman” in an official order while referring to allegedly objectionable remarks made by Cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya during a conversation with a journalist following the Indore water contamination tragedy. In the order, the SDM also stated that 14 deaths had occurred due to consumption of contaminated water supplied by Indore Municipal Corporation, whereas, according to official data, four deaths have been reported so far in the recent diarrhoea outbreak in the Bhagirathpura area. Taking strong exception to the discrepancy in the reported death toll and the language used in the order, the divisional commissioner suspended SDM Malviya on Friday night. The SDM’s order stated that while responding to journalists’ questions on the tragic incident, the minister had 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 BHOPAL Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will visit Indore shortly to meet families who lost members after drinking contaminated water, said a party leader on Sunday. After 15 deaths in Indore’s Bhagirathpura area, Congress has intensified its attack on the state government. State general secretary Sanjay Kamle said Rahul Gandhi may visit before January 11 and meet families affected by the tragedy.