20082024-TTB-01.qxd 19-08-2024 23:50 Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 230 | 16 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  DELHI 2 FRESH MURDER CASES SLAPPED AGAINST EX-PM HASINA WORLD /thetribunechd BOTH NC, PDP SEEK CONG AS PRE-POLL ALLIANCE PARTNER J&K CHIRAG QUESTIONS CENTRE’S LATERAL ENTRY MOVE NATION NEPAL TO EXPORT 940 MW POWER TO INDIA, SAYS JAISHANKAR BACK PAGE tuesday | 20 august 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com CRPF Inspector killed in Udhampur ambush Hailing from Haryana, was part of patrol unit Arjun Sharma Jammu, August 19 A CRPF Inspector from Haryana, Kuldeep Kumar, was killed when a group of armed terrorists attacked a joint patrol party in Udhampur district on Monday. The CRPF and the Special Operations Group of the J&K Police were fired upon by the terrorists hiding in bushes around 3 pm in a forest area near Dudu in Basantgarh in Udhampur district, said sources. In an official statement, the police said, “During an area domination patrol at Dudu, an exchange of fire took place between terrorists and a joint team of the police and the CRPF In the . encounter, one Inspector of the CRPF suffered bullet injuries and was killed. The operation is continuing.” The sources said the CRPF officer, belonging to 187th Battalion, was leading the patrol party. He was critically injured in the attack and succumbed later. The sources said the joint patrol team immediately WillrestoreArt370, J&K’s statehood: NC in manifesto Since July, 11 security personnel have been killed in Jammu region. FILE JAMMU REGION ON TERROR RADAR ■ The Jammu region has seen multiple attacks by terrorists and subsequent encounters since July ■ 11 security personnel killed in these incidents ■ An Kuldeep Kumar Army Captain was killed in a gunfight in Doda district of Jammu belt five days ago retaliated, but the terrorists were able to flee from the spot. Additional forces, including the Army, had been rushed to the area. They have started a cordon and search operation in the forest area. An encounter had taken place in the Thanda Pani Khaned area under the jurisdiction of the Basantgarh police station on August 6. However, even then terrorists were able to flee from the area. The attack comes amid preparation for the Assembly elections in J&K. On August 9, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said in Jammu that the security forces were capable of handling the situation in the region. Today’s incident comes five days after an Army Captain was killed in an encounter in continued on page 8 Autopsy confirms rape, strangulation of Kolkata doctor, finds 16 injuries Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 19 The postmortem report of the doctor who was raped and murdered inside the seminar hall of RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata has confirmed sexual assault, and death by manual strangulation. “The death was due to effects of manual strangulation associated with smothering. Manner of death is homicidal. There is medical evidence of forceful penetration/insertion in her genitalia, possibility of sexual assault,” the report said. Sixteen external injuries, including abrasions on the cheeks, lips, nose, neck, arms and knees, as well as injuries to the private parts and nine internal injury marks in the muscles of the neck, scalp and other parts have been found on the body, as per the report of the postmortem, conducted from 6.10 pm to 7.10 pm on August 9. The report noted haemorrhaging in the lungs and blood clots in the body. No evidence of fracture — as being claimed on social media — was confirmed. “All injuries are antemortem (before death), showing evidence of vital reactions,” the report said. Safety bond 200 UNITS OF FREE POWER AMONG 12 GUARANTEES Asked how they would restore the special status, Abdullah said the party would “fight it politically” with the hope that “things will change in the country”. “We have never said we will do this overnight, but we are not going to leave this fight. We are assuring people that we will not sit silent on these issues,” said Abdullah. He said the Supreme Court had “upheld 370” thrice before its final December 2022 ruling in the matter. “Can’t we have hope that a time will come when the SC will change its decision. If the BJP didn’t concede defeat after three (SC) rulings, should we concede defeat after one decision?” he said. While promising “restoration of political and legal status”, the party said: “In the interim period, we will endeavour to redraw the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, and the Transaction of Business of the UT JK Rules, 2019.” continued on page 8 Nod to CBI for accused’s polygraph test Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 19 The CBI on Monday got permission from the Calcutta High Court to conduct a polygraph test on Sanjay Roy, the prime accused in the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata. Roy is in CBI custody. He was a civic volunteer working with the Kolkata police and was arrested last week after the doctor’s body was found TMC MP moves HC, challenges police notice in the seminar hall of the hospital. Meanwhile, the CBI grilled Sandip Ghosh, former principal of the medical college, for the fourth day today. His phone records are also being vetted by the agency. In a symbolic protest, resident doctors offered elective outpatient services outside the Health Ministry headquarters here. They displayed their names and specialisations on sheets of paper, emphasising the need for safety and protection in hospitals. Holding placards, the doctors demanded swift action in the case. They sought the death penalty for the accused in the case. “One of our demands is the enactment of the Central Protection Act. We have been protesting for eight days. Another demand is the death penalty for the accused,” said continued on page 8 NEW DELHI: The Health Ministry has asked all airports as well as authorities at land ports on borders with Bangladesh and Pakistan to remain alert about incoming international passengers reporting Mpox symptoms, official sources said on Sunday. The ministry has identified three Centre-run hospitals — Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung and Lady Hardinge — as nodal centres in the national capital for isolation, management and treatment of any patient with Mpox. — PTI Federation of docs moves apex court over violence threat NEW DELHI: On the eve of the apex court’s suo motu hearing in the Kolkata rape-murder case, the Federation of the Associations of Medical Consultants of India on Monday moved the SC, highlighting the dangerous working conditions under which healthcare professionals operate in the country. “Violence against doctors in India has become a chronic and unresolved issue, for which we have yet to find a lasting solution.... affects individuals... disrupts entire healthcare system,” it said. — TNS Triple talaq ‘fatal’ to institution of marriage, Centre tells SC; defends law criminalising it Adil Akhzer Srinagar, August 19 The National Conference on Monday promised restoration of Articles 370 and 35A, besides statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, in its manifesto for the Assembly elections slated to begin next month. Party vice-president Omar Abdullah and other senior leaders announced 12 guarantees, including 200 units of free electricity, repeal of the Public Safety Act, release of political prisoners and free education till university level if the party was voted to power. The poll promises are aimed at striking a chord with public, but fulfilling these remains a challenge given the fact there are limited decision-making powers available with the elected government. Doctors stage a protest outside the Health Ministry headquarters in New Delhi on Monday. MANAS RANJAN BHUI Mpox scare: Centre directs airports, land ports to stay vigilant Says practice legitimised ‘abandonment’ of Muslim women by husbands Satya Prakash VIOLATES ARTICLE 15, CLAIMS JAMIAT Tribune News Service Schoolgirls tie rakhis to BSF personnel on Raksha Bandhan at the Attari border. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR Chiranjeev wants to be Haryana Dy CM if Cong voted to power Sumedha Sharma Tribune News Service Gurugram, August 19 Confident of his and the Congress’ victory in the coming Haryana Assembly poll, Rewari MLA Chiranjeev Rao has laid claim to the post of Deputy CM. Chiranjeev, a first-time MLA, is the son of Congress veteran and OBC cell chairman Capt Ajay Singh Yadav and son-in-law of RJD leader and former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav. Chiranjeev has been an active leader of the Youth Congress and is a close associate of Rahul Gandhi. He hit the headlines in 2019 when amid a “BJP wave”, he managed to defeat a candidate supported by Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit from Rewari with a meagre margin of 1,317 votes. While the party is yet to announce his candidature, Chiranjeev is ready for the poll and is seeking recognition for his lineage and “political achievements”. “I deserve to be the Deputy CM and have laid my claim WORTHY OF POST I deserve to be the Deputy CM and have laid my claim to the post. It’s not just my political lineage but experience as a dedicated party worker which make me worthy of the post. ❝ Chiranjeev Rao, REWARI MLA to the post. It’s not just my political lineage but experience as a dedicated party worker which makes me worthy of the post. We have always been there, not just for Rewari but Ahirwal and its people. To serve them better, we need a better position in the Congress government that will be formed after the poll,” said Chiranjeev while speaking to The Tribune. Chiranjeev started as a student leader with the NSUI in 2006 and has since risen through the ranks in the party and is national secretary in continued on page 8 HC relief for K’taka CMinMUDA‘scam’ BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Monday directed the special court for people’s representatives, slated to hear complaints against CM Siddaramaiah in the alleged MUDA “scam”, to defer its proceedings till the next date of hearing on August 29. The HC heard a writ petition filed by the CM challenging the legality of the August 16 order of the Governor giving nod for the CM’s prosecution. — PTI New Delhi, August 19 Terming triple talaq as “fatal” to the institution of marriage, the Centre has defended before the Supreme Court the 2019 law criminalising the practice among Muslims. In an affidavit filed in response to petitions challenging the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, the Centre said the practice of triple talaq essentially legitimised and institutionalised “abandonment of wives by their husbands”. “The practice did not simply result in a private injury, but in a public wrong as it militated against the rights of women and the social institution of marriage itself,” the affidavit submitted. “Parliament in its wisdom has enacted the impugned Act to protect the rights of married Muslim women who are being divorced by triple talaq. The Act helps in ensuring the larger constitutional goals of gender justice and gender equali- ■ Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema have challenged the constitutional validity of the 2019 law ■ Both outfits claimed the law violated various provi- ty of married Muslim women and helps subserve their fundamental rights of non-discrimination and empowerment,” the Centre said. Petitioners Jamiat Ulama-IHind, Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema and Islamic scholar Amir Rashadi Madni have challenged the constitutional validity of the 2019 law on the ground that it violated various provisions of the Constitution, including fundamental right against discrimination under Article 15 which prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. sions of the Constitution, including the fundamental right under Article 15 ■ The Centre argued the law helped in ensuring gender justice and gender equality of married Muslim women A five-judge Constitution Bench had in August 2017 declared the practice of instant triple talaq unconstitutional. But despite that Muslim men were resorting to it in various parts of the country. The Act makes it illegal to pronounce talaq three times — spoken, written or through SMS or WhatsApp or any other electronic chat — in one sitting. According to it, any pronouncement of talaq by a Muslim husband upon his wife, by words, either spoken or written or in electronic form or in any other manner whatsoever shall be void and illegal. The Centre said despite the Supreme Court setting aside the practice, it has “not worked as a sufficient deterrent in bringing down the number of divorces by this practice” among Muslims. The Supreme Court had on August 23, 2019, issued a notice to the Centre on petitions challenging the validity of the law which made the practice of instant triple talaq among Muslims a punishable offence attracting a three-year jail term. “Why such a practice can’t be made punishable if it’s still prevalent?” it had asked after the petitioners’ counsel contended that triple talaq had already been declared illegal and there was no need to criminalise it. Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind has claimed that since the pronouncement of talaq by a Muslim husband upon his wife had already been declared “void and illegal”, there was no requirement to enact the law. Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema alleged that the intent continued on page 8 Headed for Russia, Kapurthala youth missing in Latvia Aparna Banerji Had gone to France via ‘donkey route’ in January Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 19 Mystery shrouds the whereabouts of Sagar, an 18-yearold youth from Bholath in Kapurthala, who had gone to France via the ‘donkey route’ earlier this year. Having reportedly gone missing at Latvia, it is being speculated that he might have either died or been arrested. The lone son of his parents, Sagar had left India to go to Russia. He was sent to France by an agent based in Kapurthala, but seven DEAD OR IN JAIL? ■ In a letter to the Kapurthala police, the Lat- Sagar vian army has sought DNA samples after a youth’s body was found in that country ■ A travel agent told Sagar’s family that the youth, lone son of his parents, was in jail ■ But Sagar’s co-travellers said he had died in an incident involving heavy snowfall months later, he has neither reached his destination nor returned home. His parents, who last spoke to him five months ago, have been frantically trying to Today’s issue is of 16 pages, including four-page Delhi Tribune. c m y b locate his whereabouts. Sagar’s friends, with whom he was travelling to France, called his family to say that he had died en route in an incident involving heavy snowfall, but they are unwilling to buy the story. His father Bobby Chand said the Latvian army had, in a letter to the Kapurthala police, asked for DNA samples, after a youth’s body was found there. The police said they were processing it. A travel agent, meanwhile, told the family that Sagar was in jail. Though the family has complained against the travel agent, an FIR is yet to be registered as the police are awaiting the DNA test report. “My son went to Russia in February after a neighbour, her husband and his Kartarpur-based brother-in-law assured us that they would send him safely to France. They asked for Rs 14 lakh and we paid Rs 8.2 lakh. On January 6, Sagar was called by the agent to Delhi and sent to Russia. He spent two months in Belarus, after which he was sent to Latvia. Agents tell us that Sagar has been arrested by the Latvian army, but some boys called us up, saying that he had died en route as it was snowing continued on page 8