11092024-TTC-01.qxd 9/11/2024 12:45 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 252 | 14 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 BUCH EARNED ~2.95 CR VIA ‘DORMANT’ FIRM, SAYS CONG NATION /thetribunechd BJP GOVT FAILED ON EVERY FRONT, SAYS OMAR ABDULLAH J&K STRIKE HALTS WORK AT IN GERMANY, EAM SAYS OPEN TO IMPACTFUL STEP FOR SAMSUNG PLANT IN TAMIL NADU BUSINESS UKRAINE PEACE BACK PAGE wednesday | 11 september 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Manipur on edge, curfew imposed in 2 districts, Net suspended for 5 days BJP drops 2 more ministers, 5 MLAs in 2nd Haryana list 40 students hurt in clashes with security men | 2 more CRPF battalions deployed Tribune News Service Animesh Singh HIGH-LEVEL MEETING HELD IN IMPHAL Tribune News Service New delhi, September 10 Amid an escalation in violence in Manipur that led to widespread protests in various parts of the state on September 9, an indefinite curfew was clamped on Imphal East and West districts on Tuesday, while prohibitory orders under Section 163 (2) of the BNSS were imposed in Thoubal. People have been barred from coming outside their houses. The state government also ordered suspension of the mobile Internet, broadband and VPN for five days (from 3 pm on September 10 continued on page 10 ■ 40 students hurt in clashes with security men while trying to march towards Raj Bhavan in Imphal seeking the DGP’s removal ■ A high-level meeting of top security personnel held in Imphal to review the law and order situation ROCKET TAILS SEIZED ■ Tails of sophisticated rockets found after the recent drone and missile attacks in Manipur, a top police officer said ■ Manipur Police dismissed claims of Lt Gen PC Nair, a retired DG of the Assam Rifles, that drones or rockets were not used in attacks Security personnel take position during a protest by students in Manipur capital Imphal on Tuesday. ANI Bairagi pitted against Vinesh; AAP out with 20 names Pradeep Sharma High command to 37% MLAs LEFT OUT Chandigarh, September 10 BY SAFFRON PARTY choose CM: Selja The ruling BJP today To buck anti-incumbency, the declared its second list of 21 candidates for the October 5 Haryana Assembly elections, dropping seven sitting MLAs, including two ministers. The Aam Aadmi Party also released two lists of nine and 11 candidates. With this, the BJP has fielded candidates on 87 of the 90 Assembly seats, while AAP has announced 40 names. The fresh AAP lists come a day after its seat-sharing talks with the Congress failed. Capt Yogesh Bairagi of the BJP has been pitted against Congress’ Vinesh Phogat from the Julana Assembly segment. Ministers Banwari BJP has dropped 15 of its 40 sitting MLAs (over 37%). Besides, the party has gone with 40 new faces (46%) on the 87 seats announced so far. Lal (Bawal) and Seema Trikha (Badkhal) have been replaced by Krishna Kumar and Dhanesh Adlakha, respectively. The five MLAs dropped are state chief Mohan Lal Badoli (Rai), Nirmal Rani (Ganaur), Praveen Dagar (Hathin), Jagdish Nayar (Hodal) and Satya Prakash Jrawta (Pataudi). Senior BJP leader Krishna Gahlawat has been fielded continued on page 10 Chandigarh, September 10 Sirsa MP Kumari Selja today said the Congress high command would decide who the next Haryana CM would be. Talking to the media, she said the Congress was in a strong position in the state. Selja denied that Haryana Congress was divided and said that disputes over ticket distribution were common in politics. “When there are 2,500 ticket aspirants, selecting one candidate isn’t easy. But ultimately, only one is chosen,” Selja said. — TNS Rashid gets interim bail for J&K elections Maldivian Prez to visit SC refuses to quash fresh FIR India; 2 of his ministers against Saini in’91murder case resign over jibe at Modi AAP govt kicks off process to identify ‘black sheep’ in police Baramulla MP accused in terror case Chandigarh, September 10 Male, September 10 Mohamed Muizzu, Maldivian President, will travel to India on an official visit “very soon”, his spokesperson said today. Heena Waleed, the chief spokesperson at the President’s Office, announced Muizzu’s visit on a day when two junior ministers, suspended in January for derogatory comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, resigned from the government. She said while the exact date for the trip was yet to be finalised, the two sides were discussing a date, which was of convenience to the leaders of both countries, a news portal reported. “The President is scheduled to visit India very soon... such trips are scheduled for a time of maximum convenience to leaders of the two countries. Discussions regarding this are in progress,” she said during a press conference. Muizzu, known for his proChina leanings, visited New The Punjab Government has started the process to identify “black sheep” in the Punjab Police so that a list of such officials can be presented to Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan. According to information gathered by The Tribune, the state Home Department has started the process to compile a list of all police personnel who have been booked either in a police case or a case by the state Vigilance Bureau. The list will be sent to the Speaker next week. Sources say the number of such police personnel is in hundreds and it will take time to compile details of the action taken against each of them, and the legal status of such cases. Last week, during the Vidhan Sabha session, the House, egged on by the Speaker, had initially sought a report from the DGP about the action taken against an ASI in an alleged corruption case. INSIDE Satya Prakash Tribune News Service Delhi on June 9 to attend Prime Minister Modi’s swearing-in ceremony. Unlike his predecessors, who made the first port of call to New Delhi after assuming office, Muizzu travelled to Turkiye first and to China for his first state visit in January. Heads of the states from India’s neighbourhood and the Indian Ocean region attended Modi’s oath ceremony. Muizzu said he was delighted to receive PM Modi’s invitation and “equally delighted” to have attended the event. On his return, Muizzu described his first visit to India as a “success” for the Maldives. — PTI New Delhi, September 10 The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini’s petition seeking quashing of a fresh FIR lodged against him in connection with the 1991 disappearance and murder of junior engineer Balwant Singh Multani, saying a chargesheet had already been filed in the case. In view of the subsequent development of a chargesheet having been filed in the case, the court would not like to interfere with the FIR, a Bench led by Justice MM Sundresh told senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Saini. However, it clarified that the observations and findings of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in its September 8, 2020, verdict would not come in the way of the proceedings before the trial court. Rohatgi urged the top court to quash the FIR on the ground that it was lodged Sumedh Saini, Punjab ex-DGP MULTANI WAS PICKED AS TERROR SUSPECT ■ Balwant Multani, a JE with the Chandigarh tourism corporation, was ‘tortured to death in police custody’ ■ Saini was the Chandigarh SSP then; Multani was allegedly picked as a suspect in a terror case that left three cops dead in 2020 due to political reasons — decades after the alleged incident. Describing Saini as a “decorated officer”, he sought to emphasise that time and again this court had granted him relief and even protected him from coercive action in the case. However, the Bench said as the chargesheet had already been filed, it could not quash the FIR at this stage. Multani, a junior engineer with the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation, was allegedly picked up by the police in December 1991 after a terror attack on Saini that left three policemen dead. Saini was injured in the attack. Saini’s troubles started in May 2020 when he was booked at a police station in Mohali along with six others for the alleged kidnapping of Multani in 1991. The murder charge was added in August after two of the accused policemen spilled the beans. The Supreme Court had on December 3, 2020, granted him anticipatory bail in the fresh case lodged in the 1991 disappearance and murder of Multani after setting aside an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court declining him pre-arrest bail in the case, saying a long delay in lodging of the FIR can certainly be a valid consideration continued on page 10 New Delhi, September 10 A Delhi court on Tuesday granted interim bail till October 2 to newly elected Lok Sabha MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, in a terror funding case to enable him to campaign in the coming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. Rashid defeated former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the recent parliamentary poll from Baramulla. The order came from Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh on Rashid’s petition seeking interim bail to campaign in the elections. The J&K Assembly has 119 seats, including 24 segments that are reserved for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and five nominated members. Elections to 90 seats are scheduled to be held in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8. IAF officer accuses senior of sexual assault In US, Rahul says rights of Sikhs Both were based in Srinagar |Alleges internal probe panel didn’t act |FIRfiled under threat; BJP rakes up 1984 Adil Akhzer Srinagar, September 10 The J&K Police have registered an FIR after a woman Flying Officer filed a complaint against a Wing Commander, alleging “sexual assault, harassment and mental torture”. The FIR has been lodged under Section 376(2) of the Indian Penal Code at Budgam police station in Central Kashmir. The IAF said the force was cooperating with the police in Budgam. Officials in Delhi said the police had been approached to get all the CLAIMS INVESTIGATION DELAYED BY 2 MONTHS ■ The complainant alleged that a Wing Commander sexually assaulted her on New Year’s Eve last year ■ She reported the matter to IAF authorities and an internal probe pane was set up ■ Panel delayed probe by two months and ordered no action against anyone, she alleged details. The IAF was aware of the case and have taken note of it, they said. In her complaint, the officer alleged after a party at the Air Force Station in Srinagar on the New Year’s Eve last year, a Wing Commander took her to his room on the pretext of handing her over some gift and sexually assaulted her. “I revealed the incident to two women officers. They guided me to file a complaint, but I was embarrassed and lacked courage to do so,” the complaint read. The officer claimed she finally decided to put up a fight. “A Colonel was ordered to investigate the incident,” she said, adding to her shock, the accused was made to sit with her twice. After a delay of two months, the internal committee met on April 2, but it didn’t recommend any action. Her request for the transfer of the accused was also not entertained. The investigation ended on May 15 and no action was taken against anyone. “I continued to face social boycott and harassment at the hand of seniors. My personal communications are being monitored constantly,” she alleged. She said she finally approached the police for legal action against the accused and a few other officers. Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 10 Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday drew sharp criticism over his remarks on Sikhs during an event in Virginia, US. Interacting with Indian community members, Rahul asked a person his name and then said the fight was about whether he “will be allowed to wear a turban or kara in India. That’s what the fight is about and not just for him, for all religions”. Senior BJP leader Hardeep Puri described Rahul’s c m y b QUOTA TO GO WHEN INDIA TURNS FAIR PLACE: CONG MP INSIDE remarks as a “dangerous and false narrative”. “Some sensitive issues involve our national identity, our unity, the strength of our unity in diversity. When he (Rahul) comments on these issues, I think he attempts to set a dangerous narrative,” Puri said, asking why Rahul whipped up imagined Sikh anxieties out of the blue. “If there has been one time in our history as a community where we have felt a sense of insecurity and an existential threat, it has been in times when Rahul’s family was in power,” Puri lashed back. He said in 1984, a pogrom was carried out against the Sikhs. Rashid has been in jail since 2019 after he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the 2017 terror funding case. On July 5, the court had granted Rashid custody parole to take oath as an MP He is cur. rently lodged in Tihar Jail. The court will pronounce its order on his regular bail application on Wednesday. Rashid’s name figured in the case during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the NIA for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in Kashmir. — TNS/PTI Defying SC order, WB docs refuse to resume work Kolkata, September 10 Protesting junior doctors in West Bengal defied a Supreme Court order, asking them to resume work by 5 pm on Tuesday, and said they would continue their protest till their demands were fulfilled and the RG Kar Hospital rape-murder victim was given justice. The medicos, whose protest entered the 32nd day over demand for removal of the Kolkata police commissioner and several top health officials, also rejected Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s appeal to call of stir. INSIDE Edit: Enough is enough