The New Indian Express Wishes its readers HYDERABAD MONDAY MARCH 25, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 12 LATE CITY EDITION AT LEAST 137 ABDUCTED SCHOOL CHILDREN FREED IN NIGERIA ABDUCTIONS PUT PRESSURE ON PRESIDENT The Nigerian Army claimed the children were freed during a rescue operation on Saturday. President Bola Tinubu, under pressure to end abductions which has become common in the conflict-hit northern region of the country, had vowed to rescue them without paying ransom. Sources said the abductors were hiding in the region’s vast and ungoverned forests They were abducted over two weeks ago from their school in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Kaduna by a band of motorcycle-riding gunmen OVER 280 STUDENTS WERE TAKEN: TEACHERS ■ ■ It is not clear how many students were kidnapped. Teachers have said over 280 pupils between the ages of eight and 15 were taken. The government had initially said all of them had been freed Bandit gangs routinely attack communities and carry out mass kidnappings for ransom in northwest and north-central Nigeria | P9 1,400 STUDENTS HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED FROM NIGERIAN SCHOOLS SINCE 2014 CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI PHONE TAPPING CASE ACCUSED INDIA bloc to hold mega rally over Kejriwal arrest EXTORTED JEWELLERS, REALTORS P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi Former intelligence chief Prabhakar Rao named A-1, Praneeth A-2 S W E T H A V I M A L A M @ Hyderabad SUSPENDED officer D Praneeth Rao, under the directions of former chief of the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) T Prabhakar Rao and arrested officers Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna, reportedly extorted money from 36 businessmen, with a particular focus on famous jewellers, hawala operators, realtors and some other prominent construction company owners. Probing the phone-tapping case, the cops are encouraging the victims to come forward and file their complaints. The investigation team is also verifying the data, which have been tapped by the other suspects, including the data related to a former minister’s family and their close relatives, who were also threatened by the accused officers. It is learnt that all of these activities were carried out under Prabhakar’s directions. Meanwhile, the police have named Prabhakar as accused number 1 and former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of the Task Force Radha Kishan Rao as accused number 3 in the phone tapping case. Praneeth, who was arrested earlier, is accused number 2, as per the FIR. It is learnt that Prabhakar and Radha Kishan are absconding and are believed to be in the US. While the police have searched their residences, they have also issued lookout notic- T Prabhakar Rao D Praneeth Rao Radha Kishan Rao es against the duo to alert airports. During the probe, the cops discovered that Praneeth took to tapping phones as he was asked to do so by the accused officers. The two senior police officers who were arrested on Saturday — Thirupathanna, Additional DCP, CSW (City Armed Reserve), Hyderabad City Police, and N Bhujanga Rao, Additional SP Bhupalpal, ly — also said they followed Prabhakar’s instructions. According to sources, Prabhakar and Radha Kishan gave the phone numbers of highprofile politicians and businessmen to Praneeth, asking him to tap their phones. Subsequently the former DSP would , eavesdrop on private conversations, collect information and provide them with regular updates, they added. Prabhakar was purportedly the mastermind behind the case and is suspected of ordering full surveillance on the then opposition leader A Revanth Reddy as well as his family members, followers and associates. Subsequently Praneeth relayed all the , information gathered through eavesdropping back to the former intelligence chief. In his statement to the police, Praneeth is said to have revealed that the team had tapped the phones of hundreds of political leaders during elections. They would also gather information related to fundraising by political leaders. Further, he purpotedly told the police that he destroyed 17 hard disks in the computer, broke them into pieces and threw them into the Musi river. The team also reportedly burnt all the documents in the two logger rooms. UPPING the ante against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Opposition INDIA bloc said on Sunday that it will hold a mega rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on March 31 to protest against the BJP government’s alleged targeting of political rivals using federal agencies. Announcing the decision at a joint press conference in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi minister Gopal Rai said all INDIA-bloc parties will hold the rally to safeguard the country’s interests and democracy Top leaders of several op. position parties including the Congress, TMC, CPI(M), Shiv Sena (UBT), and Samajwadi List of numbers shared by key BRS leader: Arrested cop One of the recently arrested cops, Bhujanga Rao, who had served as the Additional SP In, telligence, is said to have told the police that they had tapped the phone numbers given by a key BRS leader. Meanwhile, Thirupathanna reportedly revealed that he used to share the names given by Radha Kishan to Praneeth, who would then collect the required information. The arrested cops were produced before the court and have been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. Kangana Ranaut, Naveen Jindal in BJP’s fifth list WGL TICKET ALLOTED TO AROORI, KHM TO VINOD | P4 AAP on Sunday said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal issued his first order from Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody, instructing Delhi water minister Atishi Marlena to solve water and sewer problems in some areas of Delhi. Party are expected to attend the rally . “The Prime Minister has been acting like a dictator and suppressing democracy to arrest Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Whether it is Hemant Soren in Jharkhand or Tejashwi Yadav in Bihar or the CM of West Bengal, all are being slapped with fraudulent cases to silence them ahead of the Lok Sabha polls,” said Rai. He alleged AAP leaders are being prevented TITAN-IC VICTORY Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill (centre) kicked off his IPL captaincy chapter with a six-run victory against Mumbai Indians on Sunday | SPORTZPICS Candidates in TS may spend BRS MP Santosh `100 cr–`150 cr in LS elections booked for ‘land I R E D DY S R I N I VAS R E D DY @ Hyderabad encroachment’ E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad BANJARA Hills police on Sunday registered a case against BRS MP Joginapally Santosh for allegedly encroaching upon a piece of land belonging to the Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd (NECL) on Road No 14 in Banjara Hills. As per a complaint lodged by the NECL, the Rajya Sabha member forged documents and carried out illegal constructions. The authorised signatory of NECL, Chinta Madhav, also claimed that Santosh along with one Linga Reddy Sridhar had built two rooms on the parcel of land belonging to the company . The NECL also alleged that the MP and duo had indulged in forgery “solely for the purpose of grabbing the land to an extent of 1,350 square yards in SY. no. 129/54 on Plot No 4, Banjara Hills”. Hours after details of the case had emerged, the MP released a statement claiming that he had legally purchased the land in 2016. He clarified that he had purchased 904 square yards of the land for `3.81 crore from one Shyamsunder Fuljal through authorised sale deeds. According to Santosh, Shyamsunder had purchased the land in 1992 and when he sold it to the MP , he asserted that there were no legal disputes concerning the plot. The BRS leader also alleged that it has been eight years since he purchased the land and that he had not received any legal notice regarding the house plot till now. Stating that the case was directly booked at the police station, he claimed it was done with ‘political malice’. Asserting that he was not guilty the MP , said he was ready to face legal action and harboured no objections. Further, Santosh asserted that he would take legal action against those who make false accusations and seek to harm his reputation. Based on NECL’s complaint, the Banjara Hills police registered a case against Santosh and Sridhar under Sections 420, 468, 471,447 and 120(B) r/w 34 of IPC. IIT-Guwahati student aspiring to join ISIS held P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati A student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and had gone missing, was detained by the police on Saturday as he was reportedly on his way to join the terrorist group. The fourth-year student, hailing from Okhla in Delhi, was nabbed by the Assam Police from Hajo, about 30 km from Guwahati. “Reference @IITGuwahati student pledging allegiance to ISIS— the said student has been detained while travelling and further lawful follow up would take place,” Director General of Police GP Singh wrote on X. from holding protests and Kejriwal’s family has been placed under house arrest. “Our party office was sealed despite the Model Code of Conduct being in place. Now the Congress’s accounts have been frozen, so they won’t be able to run a campaign for the polls,” Rai added. Hitting out at the BJP, Delhi Congress leader Arvinder Singh Lovely exhorted the public to join the proposed rally . The Opposition leaders also alleged Kejriwal was arrested after the State Bank of India was forced to reveal the donations the BJP received through electoral bonds. One of the approvers in the Delhi liquor policy case got bail after sending m o n e y t o t h e B J P, t h e y alleged. “There’s no level-playing field for the opposition parties anymore. Our leader Rahul Gandhi has been trying to save the democracy and we will stand by the AAP to save the CM,” said Lovely adding that they are hopeful that the authorities would allow them to hold the rally . CPI(M) leader Rajiv Kunwar said the fight is against the dictatorial rule of the Modi government. UNDER THE SCANNER Legally bought the land in 2016: MP R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi THE BJP on Sunday released its fifth list of candidates for 111 Lok Sabha seats in 17 states. It retained a majority of its sitting MPs but at the same time gave seats to newly inducted members for high-profile seats. Kerala BJP chief K Surendran will take on Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and CPI’s Annie Raja in Wayanad. Sandeshkhali’s Rekha Patra, who raised voice against suspended Trinamool muscle man Sheikh Shahjahan, will contest from Basirhat in West Bengal. Former Calcutta HC judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who gave several strong verdicts against the TMC government, will contest from Bengal’s Tamluk constituency Industrialist . Naveen Jindal on Sunday joined the BJP and was immediately named the party’s candidate for Kurukshetra seat in Haryana. As was reported first by this newspaper, Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi was dropped and Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada was fielded from the seat. Varun’s mother and Sultanpur MP Maneka Gandhi will contest from the same seat again. Sita Soren, who joined recently from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, was named for Dumka LS seat. In Andhra Pradesh, state BJP chief D Purandareshwari was fielded from Rajamundry LS seat while Varaparasad Rao, who joined the party on Sunday was field, ed from Tirupati. DELHI CM ISSUES 1ST ORDER FROM CUSTODY: AAP ONE MORE SUSPECT Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said there is one more radicalised student in the IIT, Guwahati. “Not one but there are two students. We got one and hopefully, we will get the other soon,” the chief minister said Before disappearing from the IIT campus, the student had pledged alle giance to the Islamic State through his social media posts. In an email sent to the police, he said he has plans to join the terror group. “We immediately contacted the IIT-Guwahati authorities but they said the student was missing since noon. His mobile phone was also switched off,” additional superintendent of police Kalyan Kumar Pathak who is a part of Assam Police’s Special Task Force said. A black flag, resembling that of the Islamic State, was recovered from the student’s hostel room and sent for verification. Pathak said the police were trying to find the motive behind sending the email. The incident comes days after the Special Task Force nabbed ISIS India head Haris Farooqi and his associate soon after the duo had crossed over into Assam’s Dhubri district rom Bangladesh. AN USUAL AFFAIR The Congress and the BJP are fielding such candidates as having strong political as well as financial background. Even in the recent Assembly elections in the state, 70–80 candidates from the main parties reportedly spent `20 crore–`40 crore each. TWO national parties — Congress and BJP — are taking the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as a prestigious issue as they are preparing to consolidate their position in the state. Their performance in the polls is also likely to have an impact on the national political scenario. Against this backdrop, the elections are expected to prove expensive for the candidates as the winners are likely to get important positions if their respective parties form the government. Since many candidates are businesspersons, they will not spare any effort or money to win the poll. Their fortunes are likely to remain unaffected since the Congress is in power in the state and the BJP, in all likelihood, will form government at the Centre. Meanwhile, BRS, which reportedly raised the bar by pumping money in the last 10 years, may take a backseat because of recent political developments. Its candidates are not very keen to spend money either. Political circles are abuzz with rumours that each candidate is preparing to spend anywhere between `100 crore and `150 crore. The fight is going to be between the Congress and the BJP in 9–11 constituencies and a triangular contest in a few seats. As a result, fight between the Congress and its rival BRS will be confined to a few seats. The combined spend of the candidates in these segments could go up to `1,800 crore– `2,200 crore making the polls the most expensive this time. Elsewhere, each candidate may have to spend between `30 crore and `60 crore.
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