FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS VOL. 13 NO. 320 | BHOPAL | THURSDAY | MAY 2, 2024 | PAGES 14 r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; `3 r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in - ‘UAE CRICKET BOARD SIGHN SIDHU‘ SPORTS EDIT ECONOMY ON A ROLL, RECORD GST MOP-UP WEATHER EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE 39.20c. 23.00c Sunrise : 05.54 Sunset : 06.54 MAY DAY SCARE IN DELHI NCR BOMB THREAT; 100+ schools shut down, students sent back Delhi Police Special Cell to investigate NEW DELHI/NOIDA NEWS BRIEF India flight-tests SMART BALASORE (ODISHA): India on Wednesday successfully flight-tested the supersonic missile-assisted release of torpedo (SMART), an anti-submarine warfare system, from an island off the Odisha coast, a defence official said. The system was launched around 8.30 am from the ground mobile launcher. Several state-of-the-art mechanisms such as symmetric separation, ejection and velocity control have been validated in this test, the defence official said. Man dies trying to rescue goat from well KERALA: A 24-year-old man died while trying to rescue a goat that fell into the well of his house at Madathara in this south Kerala district on Wednesday. The incident took place around 12 noon, an officer of Kadakkal fire station said. The man, Altaf, went into the 60-foot deep well to save the goat, but due to lack of air inside it, he became unconscious and drowned in the water, a fire force officer said. The goat also died, he added. Heat wave in Telangana HYDERABAD: A severe heat wave gripped parts of Telangana on Wednesday with the temperature crossing 46 degrees Celsius in seven districts. Gudapur in Nalgonda district was the hottest place with mercury soaring to 46.6 degrees Celsius. According to the Telangana State Development Planning Society, Mangapet in Mulugu district, Munagala in Suryapet, Chandur in Nalgonda, and Bhadrachalam in Bhadradri Kothagudem district recorded a maximum temperature of 46.5 degrees. Timmapur in Nalgonda, Wyra and Khanapur in Khammam, and Mutharam in Peddapalli recorded 46.4 degrees Celsius. 2 foreign tourists rescued in Ladakh LEH: Two foreign tourists, stranded on a treacherous cliff, were successfully rescued in the Khalsi subdivision in the Union Territory of Ladakh on Wednesday, police said. The women trekkers, Sullivan Deirdre from Ireland and Van Der Weijden from the Netherlands, found themselves in distress at an altitude of about 10,300 feet due to the slippery conditions and made a call for their evacuation, Station House Officer of the Khalsi police station Nisar Ali said. Both the tourists were in good health and later, left for their hotel in Leh, he said. In a scare of unprecedented scale, at least 100 schools in the Delhi NCR area received an identical bomb threat by email early Wednesday, triggering mass evacuations and massive searches as panicked parents rushed to pick up their children. The threat was declared a hoax as "nothing objectionable" was found during searches, police said. Police sources said that the email schools received had the same source, suspected to be sent from Russia aimed at creating panic. They added that it is also possible that culprits may have masked their identity using the dark net. A senior officer said that since the incident is related to national security, Delhi Police is likely to register an FIR under stringent sections of the IPC. According to Delhi Fire Service (DFS), at least 97 calls from different schools have been received till 12 noon on Wednesday They . NEW DELHI: The antiterror cell of Delhi Police will investigate the bomb threat to over 100 schools in Delhi received through email on Wednesday, according to a senior police official. The case is being registered with the Special Cell and a dedicated team will be formed to conduct the investigation, the official said. Security personnel inspect inside the DPS School at Sector 30, in Noida, on Wednesday. (Inset) Students come out of the DPS School started receiving calls about the bomb threat at 6 am, an officer said. An official said that DFS also received calls even after noon and firefighters are still on the ground. Multiple private schools in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram also received the bomb threat but local police dismissed them as hoax. Visuals from many schools showed parents assembling outside schools to pick their children. The school administrations were seen making announcements on the microphone while parents rushed to collect their wards. The bomb threat was received in 24 private schools in east Delhi, 18 schools in RAPE OF 8-YR-OLD GIRL IN MISROD SCHOOL HOSTEL ‘SI mounted pressure to withdraw complaint’ OUR STAFF REPORTER city .bhopal@fpj.co.in A day after the harrowing incident of the rape of a Class 2 girl in the hostel of the school located in Misrod area of the city the mother , of the survivor girl alleged that an SI posted at Misrod police station, identified as Prakash Rajput, mounted pressure on her to withdraw the complaint, when she went to the police station. Zone-2 DCP Shraddha Tiwari was contacted in this regard, and he Free Press that the police have obtained the DVRs of the CCTV camera footages, of both the Misrod police station, as well as the school hostel where the alleged incident took place. Plea in SC over Covishield vax NEW DELHI A plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking constitution of a medical expert panel under the supervision of a retired apex court judge to examine any possible side effects and risk factors of the Covishield vaccine. It claimed that UK-headquartered pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has said that its vaccine against COVID-19, which was made under licence in India as Covishield, could cause low platelet counts and formation of blood clots in "very rare" cases. The application, filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, also sought a direction to the Centre to compensate those who are severely disabled. School administration refutes claims Operator of the school, told Free Press that all the claims made by the woman and her daughter are baseless. She added that they have been operating the school from the past 28 years, and no such incident has taken place earlier. Exhibiting confidence, she said that if any such incident has taken place really, they are with the survivor girl for support. Medical reports confirm sexual assault Misrod police station TI Manish Raj Singh Bhadoria told Free Press that the medical reports of the survivor girl have arrived, which have confirmed that she was sexually assaulted. The accused have been booked under Section 376 of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) act. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister (CM) Mohan Yadav has directed the police to probe the incident, allegedly involving the hostel warden and two of his accomplices employed at the school. The Misrod police have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which will be headed by Misrod ACP Rajneesh Kashyap Kaul, and Misrod police station TI Manish Raj Singh Bhadoria is also a part of the team. CONTD. ON P7 south Delhi, 21 schools in west Delhi and 10 schools in Shahdara, police said. Earlier in the day, the Union home ministry said that there was no need to panic as the threat appeared to be a hoax. Delhi Police and security agencies are taking all necessary steps as per protocol, it said. Delhi Police said it has conducted a thorough check of all schools that received the bomb threat but found nothing. CONTD. ON P7 48-hr ban on KCR by EC NEW DELHI The Election Commission on Wednesday reprimanded Bharat Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrashekar Rao and barred him from campaigning for 48 hours for his "objectionable" remarks against the Congress. The EC said his remarks at a press conference Sircilla on April 5 were violative of the provisions of the model code of conduct and its advisories. The English transcript of his statement provided by the EC in its order shows he used invectives against the Congress which rules Telangana. The 48-hour ban of the former Telangana chief minister comes into force at 8 pm on Wednesday . CONTD. ON P7 Ceremonies must for Hindu marriages to be valid: SC NEW DELHI A Hindu marriage is not an event for "song and dance", "wining and dining" or a commercial transaction, the Supreme Court has observed and said it cannot be recognised in the "absence of a valid ceremony" under the Hindu Marriage Act. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih said a Hindu marriage is a 'samskara' and a sacrament which has to be accorded its status as an institution of great value in Indian society . In its recent order passed in the matter of two trained commercial pilots, who sought a divorce decree without performing a valid Hindu marriage ceremony, the bench urged young men and women to "think deeply about the institution of marriage even before they enter upon it and as to how sacred the said institution is, in Indian society". "A marriage is not an event for 'song and dance' and 'wining and dining' or an occasion to demand and exchange dowry and gifts by undue pressure leading to possible initiation of criminal proceedings thereafter. A marriage is not a commercial transaction. It is a solemn foundational event celebrated so as to establish a relationship between a man and a woman who acquire the status of a husband and wife for an evolving family in future which is a basic unit of Indian society," the bench said. CONTD. ON P7 Start-up uses spy satellite tech to track mosquitos NEW DELHI An Indian start-up has modified sophisticated spy and surveillance satellite technology and tweaked it to detect mosquito breeding. Mosquitos are a menace of unparalleled proportions during the summer and monsoon months. Mosquitos breed in water and are hard to detect us- ing satellites and drones, but a Kolkatta-based space technology start-up called Sisir Radar has deployed high-end hyperspectral imaging technology to be able to detect if containers and water bodies have mosquito larvae in them or not. The custom- ‘We believe that this research will go a long way in precisely identifying sources of mosquito larvae in water and insecticides can be sprayed in a measured manner.’ made cameras were flown on drones. Announcing the finding Sisir Radar said, "Proud to share initial results of detection of mosquito larvae, through hyperspectral imaging. We planted clean water and larvae infested water in earthen and transparent plastic tumblers. Our drone-borne hyperspectral imager imaged them from a height of 15 metres, equivalent to the height of a five-storied block in Kolkata.” CONTD. ON P7 SET SECRETS SPILLED CINEMA Goldy Brar shot dead in US ONLINE REPORT Goldy Brar, the prime suspect in the murder case of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, has been fatally shot in the US, according to media reports. According to an Asianet report, citing American news channels, Brar, who was declared a terrorist by the Home Ministry was at, He was prime accused in Moosewala murder case tacked on Tuesday evening in Fairmont and Holt Avenue. Brar was attacked by unknown assailants around 5:25 pm when he was standing outside a house with a friend. The attackers suddenly opened fire and fled from the crime scene, reported Asianet. Brar and his friend were rushed to the hospital, where Brar succumbed to injuries, added the report. However, official confirmation is yet to be received. CONTD. ON P7 Better vote for BJP than TMC, says Adhir; TMC hits back Video is doctored, claims Bengal Cong NEW DELHI/ KOLKATA The TMC on Wednesday accused Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of being the "Bteam" of the BJP after a purported video, where he allegedly stated that voting for the BJP is better than voting for the TMC, went viral, prompting a denial from the Congress, claiming the video was "doctored". An eight-second video clip of Chowdhury's speech during an election rally in West Bengal's Murshidabad was shared by the TMC, where the sitting Congress MP and candidate from West Bengal's Baharampur was seen saying "It's better to vote for the BJP than to vote for the TMC." However, the authenticity of the clip could not be verified by PTI. Responding to the clip, the West Bengal Congress unit termed it as doctored and officially complained to the EC, seeking intervention and appropriate penal action. Commenting on the purported remarks, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the goal of his party is to bring down the numbers of the BJP in West Bengal and that the TMC is part of the INDIA bloc. Earlier in the day the , TMC, upset with Chowdhury's continual criticism and holding him responsible for the breakdown of seat-sharing discussions with Congress in the state, labelled him as "anti-Bengal." In a post on X, the TMC said after acting as the "eyes and ears of BJP in Bengal," Chowdhury has now been promoted to be the "voice of the BJP in Bengal." "Listen to how the B-Team member is openly asking people to vote for the BJP - a party that refused to release Bengal's rightful dues and deprived our people of their rights. Only a Bangla-Birodhi can campaign for the BJP , which has repeatedly insulted Bengal's icons," the TMC said. CONTD. ON P7 Nationwide search against app-based investment scheme OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in The CBI has searched 30 locations across 10 states including Madhya Pradesh and union territories after registering a case in a fraudulent investment scheme linked to the HPZ Token App, officials said Wednesday . The agency has alleged the scheme involved misleading the public to invest in non-existent crypto-currency mining machine rentals. The nationwide operation ended Tuesday night. Two private companies, Shigoo Technology Private Limited and Lillian Technocab Private Limited, along with their directors were booked in the case under Indian Penal Code Sections 120-B 13-year-old found dead in river was raped: Police OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Sagar police have arrested three persons for raping a 13-year old girl and killing her and throwing her in a river to hide their crime, the police said on Wednesday . The incident took place in Rangir area under the Bilhera police post of Surkhi police station of Sagar district. Three arrested The police post in-charge Abhishek Patel informed that the 13-year old girl’s body was found floating in Dehar river on April 22. She was missing from her house since April 20. The police said that a phone call came on the mobile of her parents and CCTV footage solved the gang rape and murder mystery . The police found that the call had come from a barber shop owner situated in Rangir Mela area. Recently during Navratri festival, the family members of the girl had gone to offer pooja at the Rangir Mata temple. There, the girl came in contact with barber Shyam Milan Sen. CONTD. ON P7 CBI searched 30 locations across 10 states including MP and UTs (criminal conspiracy) 419, 420 (cheating) and Section 66 D of Information Technology Act, 2000, officials said. The CBI seized digital devices, including laptops, mobile phones, ATM and debit cards besides a trove of email accounts, during the searches spread across Delhi-NCR, Jodhpur in Rajasthan, Mumbai in Maharashtra, Bengaluru in Karnataka as well as locations in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. "The HPZ is an app-based token which promises users large gains by investing in mining machines for Bitcoin and other crypto currencies. The fraudsters allegedly used a modus operandi that enticed victims to invest in the HPZ token app on the pretext of astronomical returns on their investments in Bitcoin mining," the CBI alleged. The probe in the case so far has unearthed 150 bank accounts related to the accused used to collect funds from investors. "These funds were initially used for payouts to build trust, before being illicitly transferred out of India, often converted into cryptocurrency or moved through Hawala transactions," the CBI said in a statement on Wednesday . FIRING AT SALMAN’S HOUSE Accused commits suicide in Mumbai police custody MUMBAI One of the arms suppliers in the firing case outside actor Salman Khan's house, Anuj Thapan, died by suicide on Wednesday while in , Mumbai Police custody . As per Mumbai Police, Anuj Thapan allegedly attempted suicide and hung himself inside the lock-up. He was taken to the nearest hospital, where he was declared dead, the police said. "After taking to the hospital, accused Anuj Thapan was declared dead by doctors at the hospital," as per the official statement by Mumbai Police. Anuj Thapan was arrested from Punjab on April 26 and was charged and arrested for providing weapons to the two attackers who fired gunshots outside Salman Khan's residence in Mumbai. The arrests followed the firing incident that occurred outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan's residence in the Bandra area of Mumbai. The matter pertains to April 14 morning, when two men came on a motorbike, fired four rounds outside the Galaxy Apartments, where the actor resides, and fled. CCTV footage showed that both accused sported caps and carried backpacks. The clip also showed them firing in the direction of the actor's home. After the arrest of the accused, Kutch DSP AR Zankant said preliminary investigations revealed that the accused were in contact with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Mumbai Crime Police had arrested both the shooters - Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, as well as the two arms suppliers -- Sonu Subhash Chander and Anuj Thapan, were also arrested. Meanwhile, a lookout notice has been issued against Anmol Bishnoi, the younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, in connection with the case. CONTD. ON P7