villupuram l tuesday l may 21, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Iran’s hardline President Raisi killed in helicopter crash Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were found dead on Monday morning, hours after their helicopter crashed a confidant of supreme leader Khamenei one-day state mourning In india today They were returning from the Azerbaijan border after inaugurating a dam. The crash happened in the Jolfa region of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province amid poor weather conditions. Raisi, who was close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, took power in 2021. His tenure has seen Iran rocked by mass protests amid an economic crisis deepened by US sanctions ■ Iran’s first Vice President Mohammad Mokhber was appointed as acting president on Monday. Mokhber has held top posts within the country’s power structure, especially in its influential charitable foundations ■ A one-day state mourning will be observed across India on Tuesday as a mark of respect for Raisi, the Union home ministry announced | P7, P9 50 days The time frame within which iran must elect a new president 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 Three Chautalas vie for Hisar LS seat Guj police nab 4 IS men from Lanka with plans to attack India HAR P REET B A J WA @ Chandigarh Di l ip Si n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad Four alleged Islamic State-affiliated terrorists from Sri Lanka, who had come to India to carry out terror attacks, were arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) at the Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on Monday, days before the city is to host two key IPL matches. As per the police, the four arrived in Chennai from Colombo on Sunday. Subsequently, they traveled to Ahmedabad on an Indigo flight. “The ATS received a tip-off about the arrival of four terrorists by air or rail on May 18 and 19. Under discreet surveillance, they were apprehended at the (Ahmedabad) airport,” Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) Vikas Sahai said. The four were being handled by one Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi, based in Pakistan, who had given them four lakh Sri Lanka rupees to fund the operation. Abu Bakar encouraged them to carry out terrorist activities in India, to which they agreed, and even showed readiness to carry out suicide bombings, Sahay claimed. Based on the geo-coordinates and photographs found on their mobile phones, the ATS team recovered three Pakistan(From top) Mohammad made pistols and 20 cartridges lying abandoned at a location Nusrat, Mohammad in the city’s Nana Chiloda Nafran, area.“Their Pakistani handler Mohammad had stashed the weapons at this Rasdeen, and location for the accused to use Mohammad in terrorist acts,” Sahai said. A Faris flag of IS was also found at the location, he said. A case has been registered under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Arms Act, 1959 and the probe is on. A first-time voter with grandma at a polling booth in Aska, Odisha | Shamim Qureshy 60% turnout in 5th phase of polls Baramulla polling at 59%, an all-time record P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi The fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Monday registered a 59.93% voter turnout at 11 pm, slowing closing in on the 61.82% tally for the same seats in 2019. With 49 seats across eight states and Union Territories voting, the fifth phase had the fewest seats in the seven-phase elections, which began on April 19. This phase wrapped up Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra and Ladakh. According to the Election Commission, Baramulla in J&K recorded a voter turnout of 59%. It is the highest-ever polling percentage in the constituency since 1984. Baramulla had witnessed a fierce three-cornered fight between National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah, People’s Conference President Sajad Gani Lone and jailed head of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid. In 1984, Baramulla had recorded a turnout of 58.90%. Ladakh, too, registered a record voter turnout of 68.47% till 8 pm. This is the first major electoral battle in the region after it was carved out of J&K and granted Union territory status in 2019. Of the 49 seats in the fifth phase, the BJP had pocketed 32 in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The most watched would be the 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, seven in West Bengal, and 13 in Maharashtra. All eyes are on UP’s Rae Bareli and Amethi, where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his family loyalist K L Sharma are in the fray Rahul was fielded in . Rae Bareli after his mother Sonia Gandhi moved to the Rajya Sabha. In Amethi, Sharma is facing off against incumbent BJP MP Smriti Irani. The fifth phase is crucial for the Congress as the BJP had won 13 of the 14 seats going to polls barring Rae Bareli. In Maharashtra, 10 seats out of 13 witnessed a pitched battle between the two factions of the Shiv Sena. Voting in five seats in Bihar, three in Jharkhand and five in Odisha were also held. West Bengal recorded a turnout of 73.14%. Key candidates include Piyush Goyal, Bharati Pawar, Rajnath Singh and Chirag Paswan. near Chennai Illegal power fence: 2 youths electrocuted E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai Available on Scan the QR code for further details *Basis lab test in controlled environment on protein damaged hair after five washes Two men in their twenties, including a first-year college student, were electrocuted to death on Sunday night after touching an illegal electric fence erected to prevent wild pigs from entering a paddy farm. The incident happened at Pallipattu in Tiruvallur about 120km northwest of Chennai. A 52-year-old man, who had taken the farmland on lease and erected the fence, was arrested by the Tiruvallur police on Monday sourc, es said. According to a senior police official of Tiruvallur district, Saikumar (26) and Parthasarathy (21), residents of the Veliagaram village near the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border, had gone to a deserted area near the local bus stop to relieve themselves. While Saikumar was a postg raduate, Parthasarathy was a firstyear college student. The vacant government land, which was being used as a public urinal or latrine by locals, is located near a farm where paddy crop is usually grown. The place had no lights. Saikumar, who went to the spot to relieve himself, had come into contact with the illegal fence mistakenly He immediately . died of electrocution. L a t e r, h i s r e l a t i v e Parthasarathy (21), who went looking for him, also met the same fate. P5 High drama is unfolding in Haryana’s Hisar Lok Sabha constituency, where three members of the influential Chautala family are locked in a multi-cornered fight. Two are bahus (daughters-in-law) while the third is a chacha-sasur (uncle-in-law). Indian National Lok Dal candidate Sunaina Chautala, wife of Ravi Chautala who is the son of INLD supremo Om Prakash Chaut a l a ’ s yo u n g e r brother late Pratap Singh Chautala, is pitted against Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)’s Naina Chautala, wife of JJP chief Ajay Singh Chautala, another son of Om Prakash Chautala. And taking on both of them is BJP’s Ranjit Singh Chautala, who is none other than the brother of Om Prakash Chautala. While the three close relatives are fighting among themselves, the Congress has fielded three-time MP Jai Prakash as its candidate. Although the three Chautalas have been following separate political paths, this is the first time they are contesting from the same seat. Naina, 57, is the mother of ex-Haryana deputy CM Dushyant Chautala while Sunaina, 47, is the general secretary of INLD’s women’s wing. Ranjit, 78, son of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal, is an inde- Sunaina Chautala (left), Ranjit Singh Chautala, and Naina Chautala pendent MLA who joined the BJP recently . While the Chautala family contest has evoked much curiosity the candi, dates are unfazed. “It is not a family war but a battle of principles,” says Sunaina, adding: “The main issues we are focusing on are inflation, unemployment, and water crisis.” Naina, a two-time MLA, is credited with holding statewide all-women rallies to create political awareness among women. She believes her rapport with women voters will swing the result in her favour. However, Ranjit asserts the BJP is poised to win all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, just like last time, on the back of the Modi wave. As for Congress’ Prakash, he claims he has better connect with the people. In 1989, he had won the Hisar LS seat as a Janata Dal candidate and served as Union Minister. In 1996, he again won from Hisar on Haryana Vikas Party ticket. Later, he joined the Congress and got elected as the Hisar MP in 2004. Illustration: Mandar Pardikar express read Orange alert for 3 districts, depression likely on May 24 Checks to verify if one family has multiple EB meters ICC prosecutor seeks arrest of Israel PM, Hamas leaders Chennai: An orange alert has been issued for Theni, Virudhunagar, and Tenkasi districts as isolated heavy to very heavy rain has been forecast on Tuesday. A low-pressure area over Bay of Bengal is expected to concentrate into a depression on May 24 | P2 Coimbatore: Tangedco has started door-to-door checks to verify if a single family has more than one electricity connection. This is being done to curtail use of multiple meters which allow families in TN to get first 100 units free power multiple times | P4 The Hague: The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Monday applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top Hamas leaders on suspicion of war crimes in the ongoing conflict in Gaza | P9
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