09112025-TTC-01.qxd 11/9/2025 12:43 AM Page 1 c m y b PRIYANKA TAKES ‘KATTA’ JIBE AT PM MODI NATION /thetribunechd 123 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 9 NO. 309 | 20 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 GUKESH BOWS OUT OF CHESS WORLD CUP SPORT sunday | 9 november 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Punjab’s Malwa region gets Vande Bharat connectivity as PM flags off four new trains Most false cases of crime against women found in Hry, 45% linked to rape Says foundation laid for next-generation railways as key economic hubs interlinked Bhartesh Singh Thakur Sneha Richhariya Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 8 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday flagged off four new Vande Bharat Express trains from his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi and said these will serve as the foundation of the next-generation railways. The new trains — Ferozepur-Delhi, Varanasi-Khajuraho, Lucknow-Saharanpur and Ernakulam-Bengaluru — connect key heritage, religious and economic hubs and have been built at Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory. The Ferozepur-Delhi train marks Punjab’s first Vande Bharat HIGH-SPEED RIDE FROM FEROZEPUR PM Narendra Modi interacts with students on a Vande Bharat Express train at the Varanasi railway station. PTI The Ferozepur railway station came alive as the whistle finally blew and the Vande Bharat Express train left for the national capital amid cheer. INSIDE HP BJP legislator Hans Raj booked under POCSO Act 3 days beforeTarnTaran bypoll, SSP suspended 2 terrorists killed as infiltration bid foiled in Kupwara Our Correspondent Tribune News Service Adil Akhzer Chamba, November 8 The Chamba police have booked three-time BJP MLA from Churah, Hans Raj, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after a woman lodged a complaint against him at the women police station here. The Hans Raj MLA termed it a conspiracy hatched by his opponents to malign his image. Last week, the woman went live on Facebook, levelling allegations of sexual exploitation and intimidation against the MLA and his aides. She also claimed to possess evidence supporting her accusations. Police sources said in her complaint, the victim had alleged that the legislator had been sexually exploiting her since she was 16. A case was continued on page 7 Tarn Taran, November 8 The Election Commission on Saturday suspended Tarn Taran Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Ravjot Kaur Grewal, the development coming just three days ahead of the November 11 Assembly bypoll. Grewal had assumed charge in Tarn Taran in September. She has been replaced with IPS officer Surendra Lamba, said an official statement. Though no reason has been mentioned for the suspension, the action came after Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal lodged a complaint with the Punjab Chief Electoral Officer against the SSP . Claiming illegal detention of Akali leaders, Sukhbir alleged that Dr Grewal, SP (Detective) Ripurapan Singh and CIA Staff Incharge Prabhjit Singh were misusing their position to con- Srinagar, November 8 Two unidentified infiltrators were killed after security forces foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, officials said on Saturday. The Army’s Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, in a post on X, said based on a specific intelligence input about an infiltration attempt, a joint operation named “Operation Pimple” was launched in the Keran sector of Kupwara on Friday. The Army said “alert troops spotted suspicious activity” and challenged the adversary, prompting the infiltrators to open indiscriminate fire. “Contact was established and terrorists trapped,” the Army said and later confirmed that two terrorists had been neutralised in the ongoing operation. Army sources said the two slain terrorists had not been continued on page 7 Dr Ravjot Kaur Grewal LAST DAY OF CAMPAIGN MANN VOWS GROWTH; OPPN TEARS INTO AAP OVER GRAFT BAJWA CASE: CONG SLAMS SC PANEL’S ‘OVERREACH’ PUNJAB duct illegal raids on SAD workers and demanded an impartial probe into their conduct. The SAD alleged that party’s councillor Sham Singh, sarpanch Varinder Singh and former sarpanch Balwinder Singh were illegally detained and threatened with false FIRs if they didn’t support AAP candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu. continued on page 7 UK spies handed over intel to Canada on ‘India link’ in Nijjar killing: Report London, November 8 It was with the help of British spy call intercepts that the Canadian authorities drew alleged links between India and the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023, a new documentary released this week has claimed. ‘Inside the Deaths that Rocked India’s Relations with the West’ by ‘Bloomberg Originals’ reports that a British intelligence agency — believed to be the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), often referred to as the country’s listening post — intercepted calls that appeared to be discussing three targets. 3 POTENTIAL TARGETS IDENTIFIED The British intelligence agency is learnt to have mentioned three pro-Khalistani activists as potential targets: HARDEEP S NIJJAR AVTAR S KHANDA GURPATWANT PANNUN A Canadian citizen and A British Sikh, died at a A designated terrorist designated terrorist; Birmingham hospital & US citizen, he heads killed on June 18, 2023 on June 15, 2023 banned Sikhs for Justice NEW DELHI CALLED CHARGES ABSURD India has strongly rejected Canadian allegations as “absurd and motivated” and a “deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains” Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh designated a terrorist by India in 2020 for Khalistani extremism, was allegedly among the names on the intelligence passed on to the Canadian authorities under the ‘ Five Eyes’ intelligence sharing agreement between the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In late July 2023, there was a “breakthrough” in the Nijjar murder investigation case when the UK obtained “relevant information”, the video documentary claims. continued on page 7 Delhi in ‘red zone’ as AQI breaches 400inmanyareas newDelhi, November 8 Delhi’s air quality worsened sharply on Saturday, with several parts of the city recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) above 400 — a level categorised as ‘severe’. The 24-hour average AQI stood at 361 on Saturday, placing Delhi in the ‘red zone’ and making it the second most polluted city in the country, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board. Several parts recorded pollution levels in the ‘severe’ category. Monitoring stations reported an AQI of 404 at Alipur, 402 at ITO, 406 at Nehru Nagar, 411 at Vivek Vihar and 420 at Wazirpur. — TNS Today’s issue is of 20 pages, including six-page Spectrum. c m y b THE 4 ROUTES Ferozepur-Delhi Varanasi-Khajuraho Lucknow-Saharanpur Ernakulam-Bengaluru for the Malwa region. The PM flagged off the trains virtually from Varanasi during a launch event held at the Banaras railway station, where he was joined by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. In Ferozepur, Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu continued on page 7 Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 8 When the Haryana Police in Gurugram on Friday exposed the unusual case of a gang of three persons, including a lawyer, who would blackmail men by fabricating sexual assault cases, they blew the lid off a vast, unethical industry in the state that has witnessed record false complaints of crime against women. The gang was trying to extort money by falsely accusing a man of sodomising an eight-year-old boy. Similarly, the police arrested a spa centre owner in Faridabad extorting money from a Delhi resident after implicating him in a false rape case. Another notable case is that of a Gurugram woman who, in 2021, filed separate cases against seven different men, accusing all of them of rape on the promise of marriage. The Haryana Police have confirmed that as many as 45.3 per cent of rape FIRs and 57.4 per cent of attempt-to-rape 2023 CRIME BUREAU DATA ■ In Haryana, 6,680 FIRs (41.6%) of 16,062 under crime against women disposed of by the police in 2023 were false ■ The second-highest proportion of false cases in this category was reported in Rajasthan and J&K with 28.5% each ■ Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh saw 20.7% and 18.3% fake cases. In MP false , FIRs formed 15.9% of the total cases registered in the state in 2023, for which data has been analysed, were found false. This was revealed by the State Crime Record Bureau (SCRB) in its recent report. Of 1,798 rape cases disposed of by the police in 2023, 814 were found false. Also, 124 attempt-to-rape FIRs of 216 were declared fake. Overall, Haryana topped the country in false cases under crime against women, according to the National Crime Record Bureau’s 2023 report. As many as 6,680 continued on page 7 Suryakumar Yadav poses with the series trophy. PTI INDIA CLINCH T20I SERIES AGAINST OZ India clinched the five-match T20 International series against Australia 2-1 after the fifth and final game in Brisbane was abandoned due to rain on Saturday. 15-daywintersession ofParlstartsonDec1 NEW DELHI: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said President Droupadi Murmu had approved the government’s proposal to convenve the winter session of Parliament from December 1 to December 19. With only 15 sittings, this will be one of the shortest sessions in the recent past. BACK PAGE