SATURDAY Canadian police arrest 3 suspects in Nijjar’s killing 04 MAY, 2024 Canadian police arrest three members of an alleged hit squad tasked to kill Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey last year, a media report said epaper.morningstandard.in Accused Karanpreet Singh, Kamalpreet Singh and Karan Brar are each facing one count of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in Nijjar’s death facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard UK LOCAL POLLS CONSERVATIVES SUFFER BIG LOSS Friday’s results cement expectations that the opposition Labour Party will return to power after 14 years in the general elections in the coming months PAGE 11 Nijjar, 45, was gunned down outside is gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., on June 18, 2023. He was a Canadian citizen A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS NEW DELHI J8.00 PAGES 14 The indictments allege the conspiracy unfolded in both Surrey and Edmonton between May 1, 2023 and the date of Nijjar’s killing Amethi ticket to little-known Congman N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow Congress leader Rahul Gandhi files his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections in Rae Bareli on Friday, as mother Sonia and sister Priyanka look on | PTI Closure report on Vemula puts T’gana in a spot Court nod to be sought to reopen case after closure report said he was not a Dalit: DGP “The deceased himself was @ Hyderabad aware that he does not belong to Scheduled Caste (SC) ... This HOURS after a police closure could be one of the constant report in the Rohith Vemula fears as the exposure of the suicide case filed in the Telan- same would put him to loss of gana High Court on Friday his academic degrees that he claimed he was not a Dalit, the earned over the years and be Telangana police tried to con- compelled to face prosecutrol the damage by announc- tion,” the report said. ing it wanted to reSeveral individuopen the probe. als were accused in DGP Ravi Gupta the case, including said the police will the then Union file a petition in the HRD Minister Smcourt concer ned riti Irani and the seeking per misthen vice-chancelsion for further lor P Appa Rao. investigation. The closure reEarlier in the day Vemula’s mother , port was first filed the Gachibowli po- questions probe in March before the lice filed a closure jurisdictional report before the “As some doubts have court, four months high court citing been expressed by the after the Congress lack of evidence in mother and others of came to power in the 2016 suicide of the deceased Rohit the state in Decemthe University of Vemula... a petition ber 2023. After RoHyderabad PhD will be filed in the hith died by suischolar. It went on court concerned...to c i d e, C o n g r e s s to state that he did permit further leader Rahul Gannot belong to a investigation into the dhi too had visited Scheduled Caste case,” the DGP said the university hoscommunity. The tel, when the stuHigh Court then disposed of dents protests were at the peak. petitions related to the case. In 2023, in a resolution passed More than eight years after at its 85th plenary session, the Ro h i t h ’s s u i c i d e, wh i ch Congress said it would bring in sparked widespread protests a legislation called the ‘Rohith across the nation, the police, in Vemula Act’ to redress distheir closure report stated that crimination faced by SC, ST, the reasons for suicide are per- OBC and minority students in sonal and no one abetted it. educational institutions. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE ENDING weeks of speculation, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination papers for the general elections from his family’s bastion Rae Bareli in the presence of his mother and former Rae Bareli MP Sonia Gandhi, sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday . This newspaper was the first to report on the buzz about Rahul entering the fray from Rae Bareli (April 30 edition). With Rahul opting for Rae Bareli, the party gave the Am- ethi ticket to family faithful Kishori Lal Sharma, 63. Little is known about him except that he is a low profile operative and an errand boy of the Gandhi family in Rae Bareli. He, too, filed his papers. Priyanka recalled her family’s long association with Sharma, adding: “He has been handling Amethi for a long time. When I had managed election for the first time in 1999, we had done it together. He knows every village and street of Amethi.” Rahul said, “I am happy that Kishori Lalji, who has been serving in the area for the IN FRESH TROUBLE FOR REVANNA, POLICE FILE FIR ON KIDNAP PLAINT E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Mysuru IN fresh trouble for Hassan NDA candidate Prajwal Revanna and his father H D Revanna, police on Friday filed a fresh FIR against H D Revanna based on a complaint filed in Mysuru. The father-son duo is facing criminal charges for sexually assaulting several women. The latest complaint was filed by the son of a victim. The complainant alleged that his mother, who had worked as a domestic help at H D Revanna’s house and farm house for six years, was kidnapped by the politician and his aide Sathish Babanna. He said Sathish Babanna visited his house on April 26, saying Revanna’s wife Bhavani had invited his mother to her house. His mother was then taken to Revanna’s house and sent back. However, on April 29, Babanna visited again saying Revanna had asked for his mother. She was then allegedly forcibly taken on a bike. On May 1, some villagers told the son about a video of alleged sexual abuse of his mother by Prajwal. Disturbed by this, he immediately contacted Babanna and asked him to bring his mother back. However, Babanna claimed the woman was involved in a case and she could not be sent back till she secured bail. The son then filed a complaint of kidnapping. The FIR names Revanna as accused No 1 and Babanna as No 2 under Sections 364(a), 365, and 34. WHEN Jyotiraditya Scindia lost the royal family bastion Guna in Madhya Pradesh to his protégé-turnedrival KP Yadav in 2019, it was largely attributed to his arrogance. Then, Scindia was an influential Congress leader and Yadav had just switched sides to join the BJP to emerge as a giant killer. Cut to 2024, Scindia is fighting to reclaim his lost glory on a BJP ticket while the Congress has taken a leaf out of the BJP’s book by fielding Rao Yadvendra Singh Yadav, a former leader of the saffron party . Guna has been synonymous with Gwalior’s erstwhile royal Scindia family and Scindia has won four times – in 2002, 2004, 2009 and 2014 – on Congress ticket. According to party insiders, when Scindia’s candidature was announced on March 2, there was considerable unease among party workers as well as the dominant Yadav voters over the denial of ticket to sitting MP K P Yadav. “The Yadavs are clearly siding SIT team conducts raids at JDS leader’s Hassan residences E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru A TEAM of 30 SIT personnel headed by Superintendent of Police Seema Latkar searched three residences of JDS leader and MLA Revanna’s family in Hassan district on Friday . The search operation began at 3.30am. Of the three premises, two are farm houses owned by Revanna’s sons. The farm houses are at Paduvalahippe and Gannigadda in Hassan district where the alleged sexual harassment is said to taken place. Those working in the farm houses were questioned by the SIT officers. Advocate Devaraje Gowda appeared before the SIT on Friday Karthik had accused Gowda . of leaking the videos. Gowda went to the SIT office to give his statement on the developments that happened after Karthik gave him the pen drive. After appearing before the SIT, Gowda said the probe is going on at a rapid pace. In her complaint with the CID, the 44-year-old victim alleged that she was Hassan ZP member when she was allegedly raped by Prajwal in the MP’s quarters in Hassan at gun point in 2021. The victim, who is a JDS worker, stated that as a panchayat member she visited the office of the MP and the MLA to help people. BOTH SEATS ARE FAMILY: RAHUL “My mother has handed over the karmabhoomi of our family with great trust giving me an opportunity to serve it. Amethi and Rae Bareli are not different for me. Both are my family,” Rahul said. The seat was earlier held by his grand mother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi thrice (1967, 1971, 1980) and grandad Feroze Gandhi in 1952 and 1957 PAK’S DEBUT LUNAR ORBITER LIFTS OFF IN CHINA Pakistan’s debut lunar satellite mission was launched Friday on board China’s first lunar probe mission. The 53-day-long Chang’e-6 mission of China will collect samples for the first time from the far side of the moon and bring them home for scientific studies | P11 Members of the hit squad are alleged to have played different roles as shooters, drivers and spotters They were arrested on Friday during police operations in at least two provinces EXCISE POLICY May consider interim bail for Kejriwal, says SC S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Friday broadly indicated that it might consider granting interim bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in view of Lok Sabha polls in the Delhi liquor scam case. The two-judge bench, led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, amplified the court’s view while hearing arguments submissions from Abhishek Manu Singhvi for Kejriwal and SV Raju for the ED. The apex court, however, made it clear it had not yet decided anything finally on interim bail. It said it was only informing the lawyers for both parties that if such a form of interim relief may be considered if the hearing is unlikely to conclude soon. The bench asked both parties to be considerate that the court orally observed that the case may take a lot of time. “We might considerate grating interim bail at this stage, keeping in view the Lok Sabha elections.” The apex court fixed the matter for further hearing on May 7. Claiming innocence in the case, Singhvi said there are certain safeguards provided under the money laundering Act to prevent unjustified arrests. A day after his plea was rejected by the Delhi HC on April 9, Kejriwal moved the SC the next day against the dismissal of plea of his arrest and remand in Delhi liquor scam. His appeal challenging the rejection of arrest and remand, would be heard on Monday . EXPRESS READ Iran frees 16 Indians If re-elected, PM may Punjab man held for onboard MSC Aries visit Italy, Switzerland spying for Pak ISI Iran has said it released all the crew members of Portuguese-flagged cargo vessel MSC Aries that had 17 Indians among its 25 crews, Iran’s foreign minister said. Ann Tessa Joseph, the sole woman cadet among the 17 Indian crew members of the vessel was released days after the tanker was seized by Iran’s military on April 13. P9 Prime Minister Narendra Modi, if re-elected, is likely to embark on his first overseas trip within days of his swearing in – to Italy and Switzerland. Results of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls will be announced on June 4. If Modi comes back to power, he make take his oath as PM within a week, following which he could embark on these trips. P9 Scindia’s fight to reclaim lost Guna glory A N U R A A G S I N G H @ Bhopal last 40 years, will represent Amethi this time.” Apparently, Rahul opted out of Amethi because he did not want the polls to be framed as a rematch between him and the BJP’s feisty Smriti Irani, who had defeated him in 2019. But by fielding the foot-soldier, the party appears to have thrown in the towel. When the SP allotted Amethi and Rae Bareli to the Congress, the understanding was the Gandhi siblings would enter the fray from there. Sonia had represented Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha since 2004 before she vacated it. Hardeep Singh Nijjar with Rao Yadvendra Singh Yadav. To complicate matters, Yadav is the son of former BJP MLA Rao Deshraj Singh Yadav, a sworn adversary of the Scindia family This makes Yadav . acceptable even to non-Yadav BJP voters,” said a senior BJP worker. While Yadav voters are still opposed to Scindia, the other castes, Jyotiraditya Scindia Yadvendra Singh Yadav ILLUSTRATION: MANDAR PARDIKAR including Lodhis, Kirars, Raghuvanshis, Vaishya, Brahmin, Kshatriyas, and tribals are said to be backing the Union minister. Scindia has his work cut out. The scarcity of drinking water in many parts of the constituency, particularly in tribal-dominated areas, also remains a concern for the Scindia camp. Recently, a video went viral which showed Scindia’s wife being confronted by women raising their water woes. Since his humiliating defeat in 2019, Scindia has been frequently crisscrossing the 18.83 lakh votersstrong constituency. He visited Guna many times after joining the BJP in March 2020 and also after becoming Union minister in the Narendra Modi government. According to analysts, the unique combination of Modi’s image and the royal family’s goodwill may work in favour of Scindia. Scindia has also got former BJP chief ministers Uma Bharti and Shivraj Singh Chouhan to campaign for him to ensure the support of Lodhi-Kirar castes to counter the opposition of Yadavs. MORE REPORTS ON PG 5, 6, 7 AND 10 A man from Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district was arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, police said on Friday. The man is accused of aiding antiIndia activities by providing sensitive information about Indian Army deployments, and transmitting documents and photos from his mobile phone, they said. Congress media cell coordinator held in Shah fake video case U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi DELHI Police arrested Arun Reddy the admin, istrator of the ‘Spirit of Congress’ social media handle on X, in connection with Amit Shah’s fake video case, officials said on Friday . Reddy is the national coordinator of the social media wing of the Congress in Telangana and had allegedly played a role in “editing or circulating” the morphed video, a police official said, adding, “Reddy was arrested from Delhi.” The police seized Reddy’s mobile phone which was allegedly used to circulate the doctored video. However, as per sources, the evidence from his phone has been deleted, so it may be sent for forensic examination. Earlier in the day, Hyderabad Police arrested five functionaries of the Telangana Cong ress’ social media wing but they were later granted bail. On Sunday Delhi Police had registered an FIR , on the basis of a complaint given by the home ministry and asked social media websites ‘X’ and Facebook to share details of the accounts that uploaded the alleged morphed video. The ‘X’ in its reply had shared the IP address, probably in Telangana, from where the video was first shared on the social media platform. FIRE AT RAJGHAT A traffic policeman walks on a road engulfed in smoke after a fire erupted in the forest area near Rajghat in New Delhi on Friday | PTI JNU issues fresh advisory against on-campus stir, student bodies resist move I F R A H M U F T I @ New Delhi THE Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Friday issued a fresh advisory reiterating a ban on protests within 100 metres of the administration bloc, a move opposed by student organisations. A notice issued in this regard read, “Dean of Students office/Inter Hall Administration building falls within the radius of 100 meters. Hunger strike, protests, group incursion and any other form of demonstration or blocking the entry or exit of any academic and administrative premises within the radius of 100 metres is prohibited under the Rules of Discipline and Proper Conduct of Students of JNU (Statute 32 (subject to the Statutes of the Uni- versity) 5) is an of fense punishable under section 5.” The notification was, however, opposed strongly by all the student unions. Resisting the decision, JNUSU president Dhananjay said, “This is an anti-student policy . Our varsity administration is full of people who have ‘man ki baat’ to share but they just won’t allow it. It is like a dictatorship. The earlier order prohibited us from protesting near the academic premises, the new one stops us from protesting around the offices of all accountable administrators. We will continue our protest on Monday and we will meet the Dean of Students.” RSS’ student wing ABVP condemned the order terming it “violation of students right” to protest on campus.
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