20052025-TTC-01.qxd 5/20/2025 12:34 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 9 NO. 138 | 14 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 WILL CONTROL GAZA, LETTING IN HUMAN AID: NETANYAHU WORLD /thetribunechd KIDS HIT BY SHELLING UNLIKELY TO RETURN TO SCHOOL SOON J&K SC JUNKS VODAFONE IDEA’S AGR RELIEF PLEA BUSINESS REVISIT SC ORDER FOR PRIOR NOD TO TRY JUDGES: VP BACK PAGE tuesday | 20 may 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Foiled Pak attack on Golden Temple: Army Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 19 Days after the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, a senior Army officer on Monday revealed that the neighbouring nation had tried to target the Golden Temple with drones and missiles on the intervening night of May 7-8 in retaliation against India’s strikes on nine terrorist sites. Major General Kartik C Seshadri, General Officer Commanding of 15 Infantry Division, said this while demonstrating India’s air defence system, including indigenous Akash missiles and L-70 air defence guns, which intercepted Pakistani drones and missiles that attempted to strike the Sikh shrine. The Army officer said the Golden Temple was the prime target of the Pakistani attack, which was evident from a surfeit of drones and Disputes Trump’s mediation claims for ending conflict Ajay Banerjee & Animesh Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 19 The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the apology of Madhya Pradesh Tribal Affairs Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah and ordered an SIT probe against him over his controversial remarks SAMBHAL: The Allahabad HC on Monday dismissed a plea of the Masjid committee against the survey ordered by a Sambhal court in the Shahi Jama Masjid and Harihar Temple dispute, upholding the civil court's direction for the survey. The court said the order to appoint a court commissioner and the suit were maintainable. INSIDE Tribune News Service Army men demonstrate the use of L-70 air defence gun to protect Golden Temple from Pak attacks. ANI BEATING RETREAT TO RESUME AT ALL THREE PUNJAB BORDER POSTS The Beating Retreat ceremonies at Attari-Wagah, Hussainwala and Sadiqi border posts in Punjab are all set to resume from Tuesday, said officials. The BSF had stopped the ceremony at all the three places after the recent terror attack in Pahalgam and the subsequent Indian strikes on terrorist bases in Pakistan. missiles showered towards it. Major General Seshadri said they had credible intelligence that the Golden Temple would be targeted. “We mobilised additional air defence assets to thwart the massive Pakistan air assault comprising drones and lone-range missiles.... Our alert air defence gunners foiled the enemy’s attempts and shot down all drones and missiles targeted at the Golden Temple and other military installations.” SIT to probe MP minister over remarks on Col: SC Satya Prakash No N-factor, truce bilateral: Misri briefs Parl committee HC bins plea against UP mosque survey Says entire ‘nation is ashamed’rejects apology , against Col Sofia Qureshi, the face of India’s press briefings on Operation Sindoor. “We are constituting a special investigation team (SIT) with three IPS officers one (of whom) should be of IGP rank. All should be from outside the state. It’s a litmus test and we want the state to submit the SIT report to us. We would like to have a very close watch,” a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh ordered. It directed the MP Director General of Police to constitute the SIT by Tuesday. The Bench, however, stayed Shah’s arrest and ordered the minister to join the probe. It also issued notice to Madhya Pradesh on continued on page 10 New Delhi, May 19 The government on Monday said the recent pause on the hostilities between India and Pakistan was reached bilaterally and the nuclear factor was never at play even as it disputed US President Donald Trump’s claims of mediation between the two countries for a ceasefire and his remarks that America stopped a likely nuclear war. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, during his presentation to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs today, said the conflict between India and Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack was always conventional and the neighbour never made any “nuclear signalling”. This was Misri’s first briefing to the committee chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who later said the entire panel commended Misri for his articulation in presenting the Indian position in the Cancel Dhadrianwale Key sites under security rape-murder case: SIT review after Op Sindoor Aman Sood Animesh Singh Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Patiala, May 19 Less than six months after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Patiala police to investigate an FIR registered against Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale on charges of sexual assault and murder, a three-member special investigation team (SIT) formed to look into the allegations has recommended “cancellation of the FIR”. The FIR was lodged at the Passiana police station in Patiala on December 7, 2024, under Sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC following the intervention of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In its final report submitted last week to continued on page 10 New Delhi, May 19 The Centre has launched a security review of key monuments and facilities across the country in the wake of intelligence inputs received after the Pahalgam attack that terror outfits could target religious sites, primarily the Ayodhya Ram temple. The terrorists could even attack the RSS headquarters in Nagpur in retaliation against the Indian strikes launched under Operation Sindoor on terror sites in Pakistan and PoK, said sources. CRPF Director General GP Singh is learnt to have visited Ayodhya on May 18 to review the security of the Ram temple. He held discussions with the temple authorities to ‘NO PROOF TO BACK CHARGES’ ■ The FIR against the Sikh preacher was lodged at the Passiana police station in Patiala on December 7, 2024 ■ The FIR mentioned that the victim was allegedly poisoned to death by the preacher on April 22, 2012 ■ A SIT member said they had recommended cancellation of the FIR as “there was no evidence to support the charges” Ayodhya temple, RSS headquarters among those on ‘terror radar’ ensure seamless coordination for safeguarding the spiritually significant site, the sources said. When contacted, CRPF officials downplayed Singh’s visit, calling it “routine”. The sources said though the India-Pakistan skirmishes had paused on May 10, the threat perception remained high for religious sites and structures such as power stations and hydel projects. They said the RSS headquarters, Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and Mathura’s Banke Bihari temple were also likely to come under security review. 12 held in 2 weeks as cops unmask spy ring; 6 from Punjab, 5 Haryana Ashoka varsity teacher moves SCagainstarrest Tribune News Service & PTI IN CUSTODY FOR ‘LEAKING’ ARMY INFO Chandigarh/Lucknow May 19 At least 12 persons, including a YouTuber, have been nabbed from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on charges of espionage over the last two weeks with investigations pointing to an alleged Pakistan-linked spy network operating in north India, the police said. While six of them have been held from Punjab, five were nabbed from Haryana and one from Uttar Pradesh. Among them, two women – Hisarbased YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra and 31-year-old Guzala from Punjab — were allegedly in touch with Pakistani officer Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, posted at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. On May 13, the government expelled the Pakistani official for allegedly indulging in espi- NAUMAN ILAHI (PANIPAT): GUZALA (MALERKOTLA): , Leaked info, got payments from Security guard from UP supplied Pak mission official Danish sensitive info to Pak intel agency New Delhi, May 19 Arrested for “endangering India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity” by his alleged comments on Operation Sindoor, Ashoka University associate professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad on Monday moved the Supreme Court challenging his arrest. A Bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih agreed to list Mahmudabad’s petition on Tuesday or Wednesday after senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned it for urgent hearing. “He has been arrested for a patriotic statement. Please list it during the day,” Sibal insisted. “List it tomorrow or day after,” the CJI ordered. Along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, Col Sofiya Qureshi has been the face of India’s press briefings on Operation continued on page 10 edit: Operation intolerance YAMEEN MOHAMAD DEVENDER SINGH (KAITHAL): (MALERKOTLA): Guzala’s aide, Shared Patiala cantonment involved in sharing intel for money photos after visit to Pakistan FALAKSHER MASIH (AJNALA): ARMAAN (NUH): Spied for Accused of sharing cantonment, Pakistan, linked to sacked airbase photos with Pakistan’s ISI mission employee Danish SURAJ MASIH (AJNALA): Partnered with Falaksher in leaking defence information MOHAMMAD TARIF (NUH): Local quack gave a SIM card to a Pak High Commission employee SUKHPREET SINGH (GURDASPUR): JYOTI MALHOTRA (HISAR): Leaked troop movement, Op YouTuber passed on info to Pak Sindoor details to Pak handlers intel operatives through Danish KARANBIR SINGH (GURDASPUR): Collaborated with Sukhpreet in spying for Pak intel agents SHAHZAD (RAMPUR, UP): Alleged ISI agent & smuggler with multiple Pakistan trips, accused of spying onage. Investigations so far revealed that the accused were allegedly passing on sensitive information to Pakistani intelligence operatives (PIOs). A probe into their financial transactions and forensic analysis of their electronic devices were also underway. On May 4, the Punjab Police continued on page 10 edit: spies in our midst c m y b SC to hear plea for FIR against Varma Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri (R) with parliamentary panel on external affairs chief Shashi Tharoor & members Ravi Shankar Prasad, Kiran Choudhry & Asaduddin Owaisi after a meeting in New Delhi on Monday. PTI PANEL BACKS FS AMID ‘UNWARRANTED’ TROLLING After a three-hour meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor said the panel unanimously commended Misri and backed him in the face of “unwarranted online attacks” he faced after India and Pakistan agreed to halt fire HOW MANY JETS LOST, RAHUL ASKS EAM Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi again accused EAM Jaishankar of sharing information about Operation Sindoor with Pakistan. “His silence is damning. I’ll ask again: How many aircraft did we lose because Pakistan knew? The nation deserves to know the truth,” he said on X. The BJP slammed Rahul, saying Pak was weaponising his remarks. INSIDE midst of Operation Sindoor in retaliation to the Pahalgam attack. The committee in its entirety supported Misri, who faced social media trolling after he announced the pause on the hostilities between the two countries. On the decision to pause the hostilities, Misri said it was finalised between the two countries and no third party had any locus standi in the matter. continued on page 10 NEW DELHI:The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to list for urgent hearing a plea seeking registration of an FIR against Allahabad High Court’s Justice Yashwant Varma in connection with the cash discovery row. “It can be listed tomorrow if defects (in the petition) are cured,” CJI Gavailed Bench said. BACK PAGE SCtoLankanconvict: Indianodharamshala NEW DELHI: Noting that India was struggling with its 140 cr population, the Supreme Court said the country was not a dharamshala to accommodate foreign nationals. “What’s your right to settle here? Go to some other country,” a Bench told a Lankan national who wanted to stay back after his jail term. INSIDE